A Hero's Sojourn
by Mirai Gensao
Summary: After the loss of a beloved companion, Link sets off in hope of finding the fairy who helped him save the world. What he doesn't realize is that he is also setting off on a journey he hadn't bargained for. AU after Majora's Mask
1. Prelude to Adventure

All right, this is the first chapter in my first real attempt at an actual Zelda fic. I wrote it about five years ago when I was a sophomore, and the main reason I never put it up here was I couldn't think of a decent title. (Okay, so it's almost entirely revamped so it doesn't stink too much.) About a month ago I was playing Twilight Princess and editing the third chapter when I thought of a title. So here it is.It takes place after Ocarina of Time when Link goes to search for Navi. I hope it's even slightly enjoyable.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in or from Zelda. I just enjoy the series way more than I should.

**Prelude to Adventure**

Deep in the vastness of the green Kokiri Forest sleeps a boy whose destiny, not decided by him but rather by the great Goddesses above, was fulfilled twofold thus far. Each time it taxed his very soul, and each time he came out victorious against his enemy, the great king of evil, Ganondorf himself. No being in this still bright world knows of his exploits for each time he returned to his home in the past all memories were erased by the regal Princess Zelda at her own guilt and desire to give the young hero of time the childhood that was ripped from his fingertips.

Because of a reason no one knows both he and the charming young lady retained every memory, and with it they kept all the horrifying details no ten-year child should even hear about let alone remember experiencing. Perhaps, as he has mused on many an occasion, it is to remind him of the hardships of life and make him appreciate the existence that every other Goron, Zora, and Hylian takes for granted. Either that, or the Goddesses above sure love a cruel joke. Maybe it's both, but no matter the reason he accepts this, and while more mature than the other Kokiri children he plays with from time to time he does love his life.

What hurts most, however, is knowing he does not belong here. While the young ones that live in their tree houses will never age, Link will grow up like every Hylian does. His heritage was perhaps the most surprising thing revealed to him on his quest. A small sprout that is least confusingly called the offspring of the Great Deku Tree who once presided over the Forest and its children informed the adolescent hero after he defeated the phantom of the greater enemy he was to face later on and saved his best friend Saria that his mother was a Hylian. Fatally injured during the fires and battles of the Great War she escaped and fled to the safe haven of these woods.

Though it was forbidden to allow outsiders entrance she was allowed in because the guardian spirit sensed within the boy his potential and knew he was the fabled Hero of Time who would prove to be the greatest savoir this world had ever known in seventeen year's time. The mother, after her pleading had gained her son's safety, soon passed on to the next life to be with the Goddesses in the Golden Land. The boy was then entrusted to his new caretaker who would later become his best friend and shield him from everything as a big sister does, even the boss of the small village Mido.

His father always remained an enigma. Somehow Link suspected he was royalty or at least a noble high in status, but there was no way to confirm this. It was a small disappointment in his life as most things were. Being alone as he was growing up (minus Saria of course) he learned to accept that some things just don't work out and not everything ends in happy ever after like the stories mothers tell their children before bedtime. His ending was happy as it possibly could have been, and with the second chance now given to him by his companion in all this he hopes and dreams of a real future, one that will end happily ever after with the knight riding into the sunset with his true love in a world where no smoke and ash cover the bright shining sun and choke all life. Until then he was to be a wanderer, one who had no true home and instead was seeking it. Searching the globe far and wide. Alone.

Awakened from his dream with a start, the ten-year old boy looks around his room in somewhat of a haze. It's the same place he left when he entered world of the unconscious a few hours ago. His small sink made of wood as is everything in the forest sits on the right side of his small quarters with a mirror on the table to make sure he looks decent when venturing outside. Across from the seat on the opposite side is a small table from a tree stump cut in half and turned upside to be flat decorated only with a small bowl perhaps containing fruit though he has no recollection of ever filling it with that. The brown walls are still the same, textured like the inside of a tree, and his records posting is still on the wall even though technically since the future was erased he did not make them.

He remembers the biggest fish he ever caught as it is listed second on the list. The evening was setting in as the sun streaked across the sky to sink and release the moon from its daily prison. He had heard the best fish bite then, and with his last battle at the Water Temple so close to the pond he decided to stop by and see what he could catch while relaxing. What he never thought was he'd get a bite, but suddenly a tug on his line snapped him out of his reverie and forced him to pay attention. He stood up to gain ground and not lose the fish as it was tugging violently and splashing up water in every direction.

Using all his strength he fought back against the silver monster in a struggle he would later remark with humor as being similar to his last fight Ganon. Ganon was the one on the line once he realized the Hero of Time had come to banish him to the Scared Realm where he would remain sealed in darkness for eternity. He fought hard, but in the end Link won both battles. The master of the pond was impressed so much so that he gave Link a gold scale to allow him to dive deeper, and he kept the fish in a tank with the catcher's name on display.

That was his first fish. What luck it must have been for him to catch it on his first try. The prize was a nice gesture, but what the man didn't know was Link had no use for it. He could simply slap on his blue tunic given to him from King Zora himself and change into his iron boots acquired in the ice cavern after defeating a white wolfos. He thanked the guy to be polite and went on his way. The memory brings up some good thoughts and feelings. Afterwards, Navi, his fairy partner assigned to him at the beginning of his quest, congratulated him in her small squeaky voice that would sometimes annoy him. At times he wanted to shove her into a bottle to avoid hearing, "Hey," "Listen," or "Watch out!" In the end, though, she came to be one of the most important people in his life. She was always watching out for his welfare, sacrificing herself to get close to the enemies so he could beat them. The aid and information she gave was also useful as it led to the downfall of many a foe.

Then one day she flew out of the window of the Temple of Time never to be seen again. All he could do was watch in helplessness as she left without so much as a good-bye. Her duty was done: she had aided the One, and now it was her time to move on because he was not supposed to have a fairy. They were meant only for the forest children, of which he learned he wasn't. Again, he lost something important to him. It wasn't the same as his parents because he never knew them anyway. Sure, there was the longing for the people who gave him life and were taken from his before he could remember, but all they were in the end were people he made up. Navi was there by his side through thick and thin. When he had doubts, she reassured him. When he feared he would not succeed, she told him he had to because the Book of Mudora was never wrong in its prophecies. When he was lost, she would direct him in the way to go. She never let him down, and after he destroyed Ganon and saved Zelda, she told him she knew he would never let her down. He was returned to the past as per Zelda's wishes and his own really, but when the Master Sword was laid to rest for the final time, his support went literally out the window. Too shocked for words, he simply watched. He returned to the forest to live the life he left behind, and since then he has missed her dearly and wished she was back with him though he knows that can never be.

With another yawn, he stands up and stretches, the green tunic he has on riding up a bit. He pulls it back down to his boots, wondering why if this outfit grows with him he is not allowed to put on the blue Zora tunic and the red one from the Gorons. In the corner of his room sits his Deku shield, and next to it sits his borrowed Kokiri sword. Mido told him to put it back when he was done with it, but since everyone forgot the future he never technically borrowed it. Besides, he thinks to himself with a smile, he could always use the blade against the boss. The short redheaded boy is all talk really. Link learned that after seven years when he ran into the bully again as a teenager. Mido did not recognize his former personal tormenting project now that he was in a seventeen year old body. With sorrow he confessed to the tall stranger that he felt bad about everything he did to Link and asked if he ever saw him if he would tell him Mido was sorry. Link walked away with a faint smile and headed to go save Saria from the evil-infested Forest Temple.

After taking a look in the mirror to make sure the green cap sits on his blonde head correctly he walks outside and lets the warm sunshine hit his face and warm his limbs. His tree house is located on the edge of the small village and down a hill. Saria always used to run up to him in greeting, but now that she has taken her rightful place among the other Sages he only sees her when she sometimes comes to the Sacred Forest Meadow to play her ocarina. Almost smiling at the memory of when she taught him Saria's Song he moves and begins to climb down the ladder to go explore since his restless nature rarely allows him to sit and relax.

The small stream flowing through the middle of the village bars the way to the shop, and he easily hops across to the other side. Above the entrance on the ledge is the little girl, Mali, who first taught him how to use a fairy to z-target faraway people and talk to them. Again, he is reminded of his lost fairy friend, but before he muses any further he walks inside to perhaps buy a refill of Deku Seeds. Sure, he could wander into the Lost Woods and find some for free beneath a bush, but he has some extra Rupees on him to blow on pointless merchandise so why not take advantage? Suppressing the look of sadness is his blue eyes he walks into the store. Upon recognition by Niko, the shop owner, he greets the boy dressed in a similar outfit and moves over to the counter.

"So, Link, what will it be for you today?" he asks in a professional manner, as this is a business. If the Kokiri children could grow up and leave the forest there is no doubt that he would be a formidable entrepreneur.

"Just some Deku Seeds is all. My slingshot ran out yesterday when I was using that Deku Scrub's target for practice."

"I still can't believe you go in there. If anyone else wandered into the Lost Woods they'd turn into one of those Stalchildren Mido and the Great Deku Tree always warned us about." Link laughs silently to himself because he has encountered one of those little skeleton kids in the woods playing an ocarina and dancing on a tree stump. The two played Saria's Song together, and because Link knew this song it was concluded Link was a nice person, and he received a heart piece to further along his attack tolerance.

"Yeah, well I'm different than you guys." Little does the kid know just exactly how different he is. With a smile he hands Link the bag of seeds, and in turn Link hands him the payment-thirty rupees for thirty seeds. After a thank you, he leaves the small shop with the intent of going back to that same target for some more practice. He doesn't need it, but there really is nothing else to do. Besides, shooting stuff always takes his mind off of his missing friend.

Through the log tunnels he journeys by following the music that plays louder each time a person approaches the one that leads in the correct direction. In each plot of land there are four to choose from, and after making a right he sees the fence barring one from jumping off the small ledge and the ladder on the very left that lets you climb down instead. The tall tree beyond this grows with very few leaves, and the target made from a slice of a tree trunk hangs from the longest branch that sticks out from the side. Lines are drawn on it for the range, and he stops and pulls out his slingshot. Taking very little time to aim he releases the first seed, and it hits right on the hundred mark. He shoots another and then another and a few more after that until it becomes boring and uninteresting. Life has been that way since the end of his adventures. With a sigh he puts the slingshot back in his pocket and turns around to leave and go back to the forest. On the way he kicks a small rock in despondency and watches as it bounces along slowly with little sound. The sun has barely made its way halfway through the sky, and he thinks about maybe heading to the Deku Tree Meadow to release some more boredom and pent up anger. First he must stop by his tree house and pick up his sword and shield, so he heads back there.

After walking into his tree house and strapping back on his gear, he suddenly longs for those days he has been remembering and brooding about alone on the roof of the Mido's house at night. It's only been a few days, and yet it feels so much more like an eternity. Each time he remembers it chokes him even more. Not exactly the most common ten-year old, he thinks to himself almost bitterly. For a second he hates the Three up above for giving to him the destiny of the Hero of Time and taking away his mom and dad, but just as quickly as the ire fills his mind does it disperse into the air as the breeze picks up and ruffles the bangs hanging out of his hat up front. He tucks a strand behind one of his pointed ears and wipes his forehead. Silently he looks to the sky apologizing to the Goddesses for his thoughts because no matter what has happened to him it is truly a small price to pay for the sake of the rest of Hyrule and the world beyond.

The world beyond…he trails off in his head. That's where Navi went, he is almost certain. No one speaks much of the world beyond mainly because not many have been to it. Most that leave do not return, and those that do are almost always explorers like him. Maybe his fairy went to explore. Maybe she had a new charge to attend to. Maybe she was called to a higher duty by the powers that be. Maybe he should go out and see. He is an explorer, after all. No, he's a Hero. He can handle the big bad world like it was nothing. The sun is still low in the sky, indicating it is midmorning. The day is young, and if he wanted he could even leave today. Actually, now that he thinks about it, leaving today sounds like the best idea he has had in a long time. With this new mission in mind he begins to gather up all the other equipment he may need on his quest to find Navi and adventure.

First off he opens his drawer and grabs his bomb bag made especially from the stomach if a Dodongo. He found it when he was making his way through Dodongo's Cavern trying to save all the Gorons from the food shortage caused by their precious cavern being shut up. The rocks they eat are from this cave, and when Darunia, big boss of the Goron race, refused to give into his demands and hand over the Spiritual Stone of Fire also known as the Goron's Ruby he put a massive rock and blocked the entrance, and then he filled the cave with monsters to keep anyone who might somehow find a way in out. Link needed that stone and thus braved the cavern with his newly acquired Hylian shield though it was too large for him and looked utterly ridiculous. The only reason he used it was because his Deku one was made of wood, and if he used that in a fire cave it just lacks all common sense. Plus it was free. He found it beneath the only grave in the graveyard of Kakariko Village with flowers on it. He had to wait until nighttime because the little boy who patrolled the burial ground in the day was always threatening to tell Dampé. The grave keeper was generally a nice guy, and his Heart-Pounding Grave-Digging Tour was pretty cool, especially when it yielded a few rupees. Anyway, he grabs his bomb bag and shoves it behind his shield where he mysteriously has enough capacity to fit everything. He also grabs a few Deku Nuts and Sticks, his boomerang from beating Jabu-Jabu, the guardian spirit of Zora's Domain, and a few bottles.

At the bottles he snickers because of what he was tempted to use them for. Already he has his wallet, and he looks around to make certain he has not forgotten anything. He reaches the conclusion that indeed he has not, and thus it is time to head on out. Almost reluctantly does he climb down the ladder, and once at the bottom he stares at the tree trunk. At the base a mysterious carving decorates it. The image depicts a boy facing a large monster, and above his head a small speck hovers. The boy has his sword raised, apparently in challenge. All his life he wondered where it came from, but now he knows. It's him, and the monster was a symbol for Ganondorf most likely. The little speck above his head represents Navi. At that thought his resolve is renewed, and he walks up the small hill and turns toward the entrance on his left at the far end of the Forest. Hopefully he won't get too many questions on the way out like he did when he left the first time. The kid guarding the entrance, Zolon, questioned his motives, and he even warned Link that any Kokiri who ventured outside of the forest would surely not survive. That was, of course, proved untrue by the destined one's entire adventure.

On the way, near the slightly steeper slope that leads to the Know-It-All Brother's house, the blonde girl also clad in green stops him when she sees all of his equipment. Reluctantly he walks over to her. Her big blue eyes gaze upon in curiosity and wonder.

Where are you going?" That question is exactly what he was wishing to avoid because he wanted to also avoid giving the answer.

"To the castle," he replies with ease as if it was no big deal. She blinks in confusion.

"Castle? What's a castle?" Mentally he smacks himself. Last time he told her this when he was first leaving she said the same thing.

"It's a big place made of stones and protected by guards who are watching out for a princess." Anticipating her next question he informs her of what a princess is. "A princess is someone who is the daughter of a king, who is a very important and powerful person, kind of like the Great Deku Tree." She pauses a moment to take in what he said, then smiles widely at him.

"Okay. Have fun, Link. Tee-hee." With a wave good-bye, he continues his path unimpeded and finally arrives at the giant log tunnel that resembles the ones in the Lost Woods. Sure enough, Zolon stands there or rather he's sitting down and reclining leisurely on the grass. His sandy hair sticks out from under his green cap in chunks most likely the result of not grooming. His fairy appears above his head, catching his attention and making him look up. His freckles seem accented now by the sunlight shining on his face.

"Where are you headed with all that stuff?" he asks. Link sighs. Here we go again.

"Just to do a little exploring. This place is too small for me anymore. I've been everywhere already."

"Well, where did you get all that stuff? Niko doesn't sell it." Caught off guard by that question he remains silent. How did he get all of it if he went back in time? After all, nothing else happened, so all of the events that led to him to having these items were erased. The shield is sold over there but his sword and the items he knows can be seen behind it are not available.

"They were a gift," he replies. Technically it's true because they were gifts for beating different bad guys.

"Weird presents. Oh well. But you know you can't leave the Forest. You'll turn into a Stalchild."

"That's if you go into the Lost Woods, Zolon, not if you leave the Forest. If you leave the Forest you just never come back."

"I'm not sure if that's better or worse." He scratches his head and stands up. "Well, I guess you'll find out, won't you?"

"That's one of the things I plan on doing. If you let me leave, I mean." Zolon realizes that he is referring to as he is currently standing in the way of the tunnel. Sheepishly he rubs the back of his neck and grins.

"Sorry. I'd hate to stand between you and your thirst for adventure." He moves to the side and gives Link a salute with his right hand. Link simply waves and tells him good-bye before walking through the darkness that will lead him to a new adventure. Happily he steps through it and out into the real world where unknown adventures and trials await him.

End of chapter one...

So that's a pretty long chapter, huh? I tend to do that. Hopefully it wasn't too much to read. If even one person likes this, I'll contine to update. If the chapters are too long or there is anything you feel could be better, drop a review and let me know. Thanks in advcance.


	2. Close Encounters with the Ranch Kind

Alright, here is the second chapter after way too long. I have no excuse except life can get busy and keep you from doing things you should and/or want to. I want to keep updating, so here is the first one. It's been a while since I proofread it, but it should be pretty much error free. Here we go to chapter two.

Close Encounters with the Ranch Kind

Once out into the vast and seemingly endless Hyrule Field he looks out over the horizon to the faraway castle. Clouds float above in the clear blue sky, and the few trees that are left over from the forest line his small ravine-like path. He takes a few steps on the grass, hearing it crunch softly beneath his brown boots. Before long he breaks into a run as fast as his stubby ten-year old legs will carry him toward the stone building way across from his home. If only he had a faster, more effective way of traveling around, especially since the field so huge. The dirt path that leads the way there comes into view, and he assimilates onto it so he doesn't run off course while not paying attention to where he is going. That happened once. When he first stepped foot out here everything was so big and different it amazed and scared him at the same time. While looking around he ran off the path and ran into a sign. No one was around so at least his pride wasn't hurt.

To the right across Zora's River are the stairs that lead up to Kakariko Village, the place where Zelda's attendant was born and raised. Behind in the backdrop is the mountain range that is home the Gorons, the tallest peak among them being Death Mountain. That name is quite fitting for it is an active volcano that spouts lava every few minutes. His journey up there was to obtain some magical power from the fairy that lives in a cave next to the entrance to the volcano, so he experienced its fury first hand.

Reaching the top of a small hill he stops and looks at the castle, which is now marginally closer. 'I'm never going to get there,' he thinks to himself. 'The first time I went this way it didn't seem like it was taking this long.' A small breeze picks up and rustles the tree nearby. Some leaves and pine needles fall from it, but he pays no heed as he is too busy trying to figure out what to do so he doesn't get caught out in here when the sun sets. When that happens those Stalchildren, supposedly the kids who get lost out here, spring up from the ground ready to attack. He can well enough defend himself. It's just…well, they're pretty annoying. After slaughtering ten one about three times the normal size appears trying to be a bigger threat. All it really is is a bigger annoyance.

So caught up in his remembrance and trying to figure out what to do now he does not notice a shadow fall over him. The tree rocks back and forth, making it lose some more of its foliage. The large owl smiles at the boy clad in green. He never did pay much attention to his surroundings. That's why the Goddesses saw fit to send him as the hero's guide. Clearing his throat, he says,

"Hoo-hoot!" in a voice loud enough to shake the surrounding area. Link looks up in surprise at the monstrous brown owl.

"Kaebora Gaebora?" he asks incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

"Hoo-hoot, my young friend, why have I ever appeared to you?" He doesn't answer. "To help you, hoot."

"Help me what? There aren't any big bad guys to defeat anymore."

"Your inner demons count, too, my boy. Hoo," he explains as his head spins upside down. That always frightened Link.

"So what are you going to do? Give me a ride to the castle?"

"No, to the ranch."

At that notion he feels a strange embarrassment rise up within him. The ranch itself doesn't cause this. It's the people living at the ranch. The owner is a short plump man named Talon sporting overalls, a mustache, and a bald spot. His young daughter who is the same age as Link is a girl named Malon. He first met her at the market in Castle Town. She was a perky girl, standing in the middle of the chaos of the shoppers and singing her song while swaying back and forth. She was wearing a simple cream-colored dress with blue symbols running around the trim on the bottom, and clasped around her neck was a monster pendant. It seemed out of place on her, but what really caught his attention were her blue eyes. They expressed everything he could possibly ever need to know about her. She was so innocent and curious about him. She dubbed him 'Fairy Boy' because of his pixie partner, and he found himself unable to speak.

When he met her again after his seven-year slumber he was again entranced. Still being the innocent and curious person he first met she now had a certain spark, a fire in her personality that he thought matched her fiery red hair perfectly. Even after the bad conditions she had to endure while he was gone she had not let it beat her. She's the reason he's nervous to go to the ranch. Even though she doesn't remember anything,he does.

"If I remember correctly," the owls voice interrupts his thoughts. "A horse lives there, and she's very fond of you. You could go travel much faster with her, and you could go much farther. After that you can visit the princess to let her know of your departure."

"That sounds better than walking there. I don't think I'd make it before sunset anyway," he agrees.

"Hoo-hoot, then grab onto my talons, and I'll fly you there. Hoot." Link does just that, and before he knows it he is flying toward the west to the ranch that lies in the middle of Hyrule Field. At the entrance where a large sign is hanging up the owl drops him and without a word further flies away into the distance as he always does. Link looks up to read what it says: "Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch. With nerves still overcoming him he steps inside to go get his horse-if her owner will permit, anyway.

Walking past the barn and the ranch house,he's tempted to go in and see Ingo, the ugly ranch hand who took it over after throwing Talon out because he was frustrated with doing all the work and getting none of the glory. He even gained the favor of King Ganondorf during that time for the fine horses the ranch raised, even though that credit should have gone to Malon. Some mooing can be heard from inside the barn as well as some complaining. After he liberated the place in the future Ingo was humbled, but that no longer exists, either.

After not long of a walk it opens up to a large field where in the middle it is fenced off with a gate in the middle to allow movement in and out of the pasture. Around it horses gallop freely, and cuckoos, those annoying little chicken-like creatures, bounce around near the tree next to the house. Getting those things angry is not something one wishes to do because they call their friends and attack in large swarms. Avoiding the one horse that almost always tries to run him down he walks up to the opening and hesitates about walking into the field to go meet her. Essentially he is a seventeen-year old adolescent in a ten year old body, and the crush he had for her developed into the feelings of a young man who quite possibly could fall in love, even though he wasn't conscious to experience his body and mind develop to that point. Now he has to wait seven plus years to see if she feels the same. The Goddesses truly are cruel, he thinks. To leave him like this, with not even Zelda, the only other person he went through the experience with, understanding.

"Hello," someone says. He snaps out of his thoughts and looks at the young girl in front of him. He also then realizes he is in the middle of the pasture. Mouth slightly agape in confusion he stares without speaking. "What are you doing?"

"Uh…" he stutters. "Well, I kinda was wondering if maybe I could…talk to you." For a moment she stares back at him in silence before that innocent smile appears on her face.

"Sure. What's your name?"

"Link," he manages to get out.

"Link? That's different. And why are your clothes so weird? You're not from around here, are you?" Almost the exact same words she said last time, he thinks. "I know, you're from the forest, aren't you? But where's your fairy?"

"Yeah, I'm from there." To tell the rest of his history would be unbelievable to most everyone else so he keeps it brief. "And my fairy went missing a few days ago."

"You must be sad, but I think I'll call you Fairy Boy, anyway." She 'tee-hees'. "Oh, I didn't even tell you my name, did I?" He answers no. "I'm Malon. Nice to meet you." She reaches out her hand, and after hesitating he takes it. She giggles again. "So, Fairy Boy, what did you want to talk about?"  
"Well, I heard you guys raise good horses, and I was kind of needing one. If you don't mind, I mean."

"Really? What for? Are you going off on a quest?" She imagines to herself her favorite fairytale about a certain hero. Her mother used to tell her it, and as many little girls do she thinks about and hopes when she's older a knight will come and take her away on his horse.

"Yeah, you could say that." Interrupting him from further explanation is the insistent neighing and nudging of a horse at her side. She giggles again and looks at the reddish-brown foal with white hair. That horse was the most beautiful one he'd ever seen when she was full-grown. She was fast, too. It was with Epona that he beat Ingo in a horse race and saved the ranch. The poor fool didn't know what hit him until after he'd lost twice, and then he got angry because he could never tame that horse. To keep Epona so Ganon would not get angry he locked Link in here. The simple remedy to that was to jump over the back wall. It was about a fifty-foot drop, and he still wonders how she was able to make that jump and land perfectly. But that horse is amazing, after all. She had a good owner who raised her well. Link reaches out to pet her, but she whinnies and runs off, leaving him looking hurt.

"Don't feel bad. She doesn't like anyone except for me, and she only comes when I sing the song my mom taught me."

"Was that what you were doing? Were you singing that song?" He already knows the answer. After all, she did teach him the same one. That's how Epona was able to tell it was him after seven years and how he was able to tame her and beat Ingo.

"Yes," she blushes that he heard her. He pulls out his beige Fairy Ocarina to spark the event that will lead to him getting the horse. "Is that an ocarina?" She takes his bait.

"Yeah, it is. My friend gave it to me." Saria suddenly enters his mind, another person he lost because of destiny…

"Do you want to play along with me? I can teach you my mother's song."

"Sure." She begins to hum softly, and he puts the small instrument to his mouth. When she stops holding back and singing he starts to play along with her voice. For a moment he isn't so sad and gung-ho about leaving. Before he would like it to be the moment is over, and what he does not notice is his owl friend fly above the ranch, looking down on the pair. He pulls the ocarina away and stares at it in his hands. Epona suddenly runs up to and nudges him. Malon giggles again. "Oh, Epona. She's grown fond of you, Fairy Boy." Continuing with her motion she keeps pushing him until he moves and backs away himself. Then she simply goes to graze on the grass. Relieved he looks back at Malon who has started to sing again and who has apparently forgotten that he wanted to borrow a horse. The only trick now is getting her to let him borrow that particular horse. She won't part with her so easily.

"Um…about that horse I wanted to borrow." She looks back at him. "Do you think…maybe I could borrow Epona? You said she likes me, right? And I know she's your favorite horse-"

"I never said she was my favorite." Link realizes he made a mistake and quickly tries to think of a way to fix it so as not arouse suspicion.

"Well, I'm just guessing because you have a song for her and everything. Anyway, besides that she's the only foal around here that I can actually ride." Malon looks at the innocent little horse eat her snack in peace. After that she'll take to running around playfully as if she was unhindered by the fences that surround the pasture. Getting out would be good for her, that's one thing she knows. But to have this strange boy she just met a few minutes ago take her away from the ranch is something she isn't sure about. The boy is nice, though, and he is an aspiring hero. And for some strange reason, she feels like she does know this boy, like she's met him before, and like she owes him so much, all of which is pretty much impossible. Epona also took a liking to him, and even though he had just played Epona's Song, she still would not approach a person unless she felt comfortable. Besides all of this, she's a nice person. Her dad always taught her to be.

His eyes, she now notices, seem pleading silently to her. It makes her nervous in a way she never has been in her ten years of life. The blue, as deep as the waters of Lake Hylia, convey so much, and yet she knows not what any of it means except she cannot deny him his request.

"Please, Malon. I promise I'll take really good care of her, and I won't be gone too long. She'll have fun with me. Really, it'll be okay." Even with his reassurance she stares not knowing whether or not to agree. Besides Epona being her favorite horse, she is also the girl's best and really only friend. To lose her would not be easy, but to make this boy happy would make her happy, and while she is away maybe she can get better associated with some other animals and hopefully even people.

"All right," she concedes slowly. "You can **borrow **Epona." She emphasizes the word borrow so he understands the ranch is the first place he is to bring her when he comes back.

"Really?" he asks as his face lights up. "You mean it?"

"Yeah. But you better take care of her or else, Fairy Boy."

"Of course. I promise." To show his sincerity he lifts up his right hand and puts his left on his chest. She giggles again at his actions. "And when we get back I can tell you all about my adventures," he adds, recalling how she told him in the future how she dreamed of going on quests and risking her life for fun. She always found it fascinating, and he never told her this, but he found her fascinating, too. At his prospect, she looks excited.

"Yeah, that'd be cool. But you better not make me wait too long before coming back." When they both realize what that sounds like they blush a bit. "I mean…you better not keep Epona for too long."

"Of course not. I wouldn't dream of it." A silence falls upon the ten year olds, and Link clears his throat before looking over at Epona, who is still eating away. That soon is interrupted when he plays the song, and she runs up to him again. He hops on with relative, ease, making Malon wonder where he learned that. She figured she was going to have to teach him a few things before he departed. Link looks back at her. "Thank you," he says sincerely. "She'll be perfectly fine with me." She crosses her arms.

"She better be," she says indignantly. "And you be careful, too." Her tone suddenly changes. Why she cares about this boy as she does is something she does not understand and expects not to for some time, if ever.

"I will. Bye." Without wasting anymore time he lightly kicks her to get her moving, and she whinnies and takes off.

"Bye, Fairy Boy!" she calls after him as she waves. "Bye, Epona! Be careful!" Out of the pasture do they ride as well as out of sight. When they are completely gone she looks around in despondency for something. Snapping her out of this is her father, Talon's voice. She looks over at the older man who appears confused.

"Malon, why did that kid in green just ride off on Epona?" His hands move to rest on his hips. She stares at her father, not quite sure what to say or how to explain. Either way he won't be pleased. He'll get over it eventually as he does most things she does. She is his only daughter. He can never stay truly angry with her because of that reason and because she has many a time forgiven him when he didn't always deserve it. Still, that doesn't help with her ideas for an explanation.

"Well, Dad, you see…."

Alright, so now Link has only one more stop on his way before he heads out in search of his lost friend. I hope this chapter was interesting since it was my version of how Link got Epona since no one remembered anything from his Hero of Time days. Comments and criticism welcome. Thanks for taking the time.


	3. Let the Journey Begin

Here is the third chapter after more than a month. It took me forever because I have been at work six days out of the week while we all take turns on vacation (our department is very short-staffed). I finally revised this chapter and have it ready for posting. I'm going to try and discipline myself to revise and write more before classes start in three weeks. Now, without further ado, here is the third installment.

Let the Journey Begin 

Trot-trot, trot-trot, trot-trot. This is the sound Link hears as he gallops across the grassy plains to the castle he was afraid he wouldn't reach in time. This horse is definitely the better way to travel as she is speedy, obedient, and sleek-looking so he gets there fast and looks cool doing it. At the drawbridge where Zola's River surrounds and protects the castle he is forced to stop and hop off of his horse because she is not allowed to go into town. He has to trust she will stay here without taking off into the wild blue yonder while he is away visiting Zelda.

Quickly, though, he recalls that whenever he lost track of her in the future al he had to do was play Epona's Song, and she would come running back to him. Of course, she was also older and bigger. No one better mess with his horse, he thinks. He couldn't do that to poor Malon. After promising he'd take care of the foal, he can't let some thief make off with her. Snapping him out of his worries, she neighs softly. He smiles and strokes her snow-white mane. It's the softest thing he's ever felt. Even though their future adventures have been forgotten by the steed, he knows she will be alright alone. Now at ease knowing everything will be fine while he's gone, he looks into her big black eyes and tells her he'll be right back. She snorts in his face, and with a look of disgust he walks away wiping his cheek off.

In the castle town, people bustle around as usual. Over at one of the stands a mass huddles closely, most likely bidding on some so-called rare and new item. He never did trust those merchants. All they care about is making money no matter at whose expense it is. That's why he never bought anything from them. Anything they sell he could probably find in the wilderness and sell on his own. Glancing at the spot where he originally met Malon, he continues straight through the town, almost being run into by the man who is always late. "Huff-huff, I'm late. For a very important date." That's what he said back then. Some underfed and scruffy mutts run around yipping at each other, and he recalls the one named Richard who was owned by the rich and stuck-up lady living in the alley. She gave him a nice reward for finding her poor pooch and bringing him home again. After all though, he thinks to himself, that's his job. At least being a hero grants you rewards at times.

The Happy Mask Shop is ahead on his right. The creepy man there with a perpetual smile on his face has the dream of selling all his masks because he believed out there in the world there was someone meant for each one, and selling that person the mask would bring happiness to the individual and the one selling it. Link, of course, sold them all. The trickiest one was the man running around the field aimlessly at night, chasing rabbits and trying to be one of them. Fittingly he sold him the Bunny Hood. The guy in the white toga and running sandals was forever grateful and paid him handsomely. It filled his empty giant's wallet, which holds five hundred rupees. For some reason he stops his straight ahead path and makes a detour to the small shop. On the door is a sign posted. Curious, he leans in to read it. 'Happy Mask Shop closed until further notice. Sorry for any inconvenience.' Link looks perplexed that he would leave his shop. It was his dream, his life's desire. Oh, well. Link has his own dream to attend to now. He turns and keeps walking.

Once out of the town, the sounds die down, and he finds himself staring down a dirt road. High dirt walls surround it, and up ahead a lone tree stands. Vines grow on the wall on the right. If he were to continue the path would bend to the right and lead up the gate where one of the many incompetent guards supposed to be protecting the castle stands. To get around this, he climbs up the vines and runs quietly along until he gets to the gate. He then jumps off behind it, landing perfectly and not attracting any attention. The dirt road runs up and curves to the left this time, and on the right it goes to a dead end where a cave housing a fairy is. She gave him a magic spell called Din's Fire. Din is the goddess who cultivated the land of Hyrule with her flaming arms and made the land the way it is. Her color was orange, Link's least favorite hue, but she is still one of the Three to be revered and worshipped.

The guards ahead come into view, and he stops walking before they see him. Of course, their vision is severely limited, probably by those ugly visors attached to their silver helmets that match their other armor. Each holds a spear and wears even dumber looking pantaloons that are striped. Nothing is majestic about them, but that must be the best the king can do. Easily he slips past them by climbing the hill that is right before the first pair of guards. Then it's a clear run past another guard who has his back facing the bridge the overhang of the stonewall and gate creates. Trees scattered around the grass decorate the area, and a few butterflies flutter around some yellow flowers. He runs this way until he gets to a brick wall he can scale. After jumping off, he runs a little bit more and dives into the moat. It carries him around to side of the castle, and again no guards spot him.

On the right side of the castle, he climbs out and glances back at the fifteen or so men he just snuck past undetected. Then, smirking to himself, he pushes the milk crates most likely left here by Talon into the moat and stacks them to form a mound he can jump off of and reach the small ledge where water flows out so he can climb into the castle walls only to sneak past more inept sentinels and to the courtyard where Zelda most likely is. At least, he hopes she's there. If not, he's kind of in trouble. Thinking positively, he jumps across and crawls through the tiny tunnel.

After sneaking past everyone else with the same amount of ease, he steps out of concrete tunnel than separates the courtyard and the garden where she is. At the window she stands wearing her pink and white dress. A headpiece to match adorns her crown with the three triangles put together to form another larger one known to all as the Triforce on the front. All that stands between them now is the bed of flowers she likes to attend to herself. The circular area is very open, and windows on each side provide a small glimpse into the castle. At one is a guard who throws a bomb at you if you misbehave, and in another are pictures of strange creatures that are not of this world. Around it flows a moat that is not very deep. Fond memories tug at him as well as a smile when he calls out her name.

With the reserved countenance all royal family members possess, she turns around. That façade is quickly dropped when she sees the Hero of Time standing there, and she rushes over to greet him, carefully tiptoeing around her flowerbed and leaping at and latching onto him. He hugs the enthusiastic princess back. Regaining her composure, she releases him.

"Link, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay in the forest. That's why I sent you back." To not make her feel even more guilty about what she put him through even though they were only children, he decides to not tell her he wishes she hadn't done that.

"It got kind of small after a few days. After saving the world and then having to go back there it wasn't exactly an easy adjustment."

"I'm sorry, Link. It's all my fault. I was young-well, technically we're young again…." He sort of laughs, and she frowns. "You know what I mean. We didn't know what was truly at stake. I am sorry I got you into that."

"Relax, Zel, I didn't come to visit to make you feel guilty. Besides, it wasn't really your fault, it was the Goddesses and destiny, remember?"

"I suppose you're right. But I am still the one who enlisted your help no matter what was supposed to happen." It gets awkward and quiet for a second. Suddenly, though, she smiles, just as soon happy as she was dark. "But like you said, that isn't what you came her for. Would you mind terribly telling me what that reason is?"

"Well, like I told you a second ago it's small in the forest, and I'm getting kind of antsy. And do you remember Navi?"

"Your fairy partner? The one that was always squeaking out advice?" He laughs at her description.

"Yeah, that one. She and I were really close, you know? She helped me out so much, and I never got the chance to tell her before she flew out of the window in the Temple of Time when I laid the Master Sword down to rest. I want to go and search for her so I could tell her all of that and tell her how thankful I am."

"So what exactly is it that you're saying?"

"I'm leaving to go find her with Epona, and I don't know how long I'll be gone. I told Malon it wouldn't be that long so she wouldn't mind me borrowing my horse, but I honestly have no idea." That wasn't what she wanted to hear though it was what she thought he was meaning. She knows his adventurous spirit couldn't be contained within the confines of his old home.

"When did you plan on leaving? Did you need any help? I'm sure Viscen would have a few guards he could spare-"

"No, Zelda. This is a personal quest. Thank you for the offer, but I need to do this alone."

"I understand, and I wish you all the best. I hope you find her. When you do, tell her I say thank you for protecting the Hero of Time. Hyrule, the Royal Family, and I shall always be grateful."

"Of course I'll tell her. I'm sure she'll be happy if not a little embarrassed. Will you and Hyrule be okay while I'm gone?"

"I think we'll manage. Peace is supposed to reign here for a while." She glances back at the window she was previously staring into before Link arrived a few minutes ago. "I am a little worried about him, though."

"About who?" he asks looking behind her and trying to see in. The last time she was staring into the window that shows the king's court she was watching Ganondorf in a meeting with her father. He was the prince of the Gerudo race who hailed from the west, and he wished to form an alliance with the Hylians, but Zelda, having the power of premonition, saw in her dreams a storm cloud billowing over the land. She knew it meant that man. When she enlisted Link, she was sure he was the green light that shot out of the forest with a fairy beside him and a shining green stone. Link had with him the Spiritual Stone of Forest, also known as the Kokiri's Emerald. To obtain it, he had to destroy the parasitic arachnid named Gohma inside the Great Deku Tree and free his guardian from the curse inflicted upon him by Ganon in a twisted attempt to get the stone for himself. It was his key to the Sacred Realm where he would snatch the Triforce from where it belonged to use to fulfill his wicked will. That led to the whole Hero of Time adventure.

"What do you mean you're worried about him? Who is he?" She motions for him to look, so he comes closer and takes a peek inside. Kneeling at the foot of His Royal Highness is a man as tall as Ganon was. He has the same greenish complexion and orange-red hair pulled back and tied into a small ponytail. His armor is also like Ganon's was with it being brown and black with a few traditional marks of the Gerudo clan adoring it in strange places. Apparently sensing Link's gaze he looks up and glances at the boy. His eyes are startling as they hold the same confidence and malevolence Ganon had when he glanced at Link in the same way. Link gasps and backs off, looking at Zelda. "Zelda, he looks like Ganon."

"Yes, I know. That is why I am worried. I don't know who this man could be. Only one male is born among the Gerudos every one hundred years, and Ganon was the last male. There is something strange about him that we need to watch."

"Do you think maybe I shouldn't go?" he asks, the worry showing in his blue eyes. "If he needs to be watched, then-"

"No," she assures him. "It'll be fine, don't worry. You just go and find your friend. If anything comes up, I'll contact you."

"But how will you do that? We don't exactly have a psychic bond or anything." With that point being brought up, she realizes he's right, and she searches her brain for another solution. Suddenly a blue instrument pops onto her mind, and she reaches in her dress into the pocket she had Impa, her nanny and caretaker, sew in for hiding things. Out of it she pulls the Ocarina of Time. Inscribed on the mouthpiece is a small golden Triforce, and the finger holes adorn the front of the beautifully crafted and sanctified instrument passed down by the Royal Family only to other members. "Here, take this with you." She holds it out to him, but he stares at it, making no move to take it from her. "Through this you can contact me. Just play the Song of Time. You do remember it, right?"

"Of course I do. I only had to use to save the world about a million times."

"Then take this. Don't worry about anything. I trust you, and I know you won't lose it. Besides, it's for the good of Hyrule, Hero of Time." She smirks at her last comment, and he practically rolls his eyes at her. She, however, is relentless and shoves it at him with even more tenacity. He could give in now or endure more comments and shoving at. He chooses the former and takes the ocarina from her pale hands. She then clasps them together to show her happiness as she has done many a time.

"All right, Zel, I'll take it if it means protecting Hyrule. Just don't use it to contact me to make sure I'm safe. I will be."

"Yeah, yeah. I won't. You just better not spend too much time away. It may give him the opening he needs to do whatever it is he wants. Another Ganon would only be a big headache."

"Yeah, and I don't want to deal with it as much as you don't." Neither having anything more to say, a silence falls over the pair. Link appears now hesitant to leave his home and his friends. Of course, Zelda is the only friend who even remembers they're friends besides the innocent and annoying Kokiri children. The hero is nervous, she laughs to herself and decides to be the one to send him on his way.

"So I guess this is goodbye for now. You go get Navi, and I'll stay here and watch this new guy." He still won't speak. "Good luck, Link. May the Goddesses be with you. Stay safe." He nods slightly and tells her good-bye before quickly turning and speeding away like a child caught doing something wrong now trying to avoid punishment by their parent. He's a strange one, that much is for sure. Sometimes it is strange to think that together they helped save the whole world. After watching him disappear out of the courtyard, she turns back to her window to watch.

End of chapter.

Alright, so Link finally starts on his adventure. At least, he will in the next chapter. Keep reading to find out what happens


	4. Into the Abyss

Okay, here is chapter four. Hopefully it starts to pick up here a little bit more. As always, let me know what you think so far.

**Into the Abyss**

Riding through the mists of the bucolic area outlying Hyrule, he is completely alone save for his horse. His shield clatters on his back against his sword and other weapons in a rhythmic pattern matching the horse's hooves on the ground. A strange feeling hangs in the air, making him uneasy. It's almost too quiet, and though he does prefer silence he would like to hear some other sound to prove to him that things are fine. Eyes focused ahead he tries to ignore this feeling in favor of getting out of the fog and into the sunlight once again. Epona feels it, too. He can tell by her speed and how she has slowed down a bit in case something were to happen. Any calm ever experienced is always before the storm gets more intense.

Suddenly from behind a tree, two colored fairies appear. Their presence is enough to spook Epona, and she rears back and kicks Link off. He falls to the cold ground unconscious, but the horse stays put next to her master. A few feet away, the haunting laughter of someone Link would recognize resonates, and his form appears, wearing a mask of sorts. The bright eyes glow bright yellow and pierce the fog along with his gleeful mirth.

"Hee, hee. You two fairies did great! I wonder if he has anything good on him…" He begins to root around the Hero of Time's pack, but something about the youth makes him pull back. "Huh? This guy…" He trails off, not quite sure what he wants to make of it. "…Well that shouldn't be a problem." He continues to look for something of value, and he finds it in the form of a blue ocarina, the same one given to him by Zelda. This pleases him very much, he smirks behind the mask.

"Ooh, ooh! What a pretty Ocarina…

"Hey, Skull Kid, lemme touch it! I wanna see!" The red fairy pleads, his voice full of excitement and hope.

"You can't, Tael! What would we do if you dropped it and broke it? No way! You can't touch it!!!" His sister Tatl shuts down his dream with her own form of logic, and Tael looks sad.

"…Aw, but sis… W…Why can't I try it out, too?" At their banter, the Skull Kid begins to laugh out loud again while Tael sulks and Tatl joins their leader in his exuberance.

Too caught up are they to notice that Link slowly begins to come to. He looks up at them, seeing his ocarina in the hands of this strange character, he panics and goes to get up. Tatl bounces and alerts the two boys to this, and Skull Kid quickly abandons his laughing to hop on Epona. With a swift kick, the foal takes off into the fog but not before Link grabs onto her saddle. He tries dearly to hold on for both of their sakes, but finally, after fifty feet, it is too much and he looses his grip. The trio, with two of his most valuable possessions, continues into the distance while he rolls until coming to a stop, once more drifting out of this realm of consciousness.

Luckily his stay there is a brief one, and only a few minutes later does he awaken. What he finds in front of him is a large tree trunk, a hole in it like a cave of sorts. A few lonely bushes are scattered out front, but he pays them no heed. Instead, he runs immediately inside, ignoring the darkness and his better instincts not to. On the other side is a series of more tree stumps, which he hops easily across as if they were stairs. He runs into another cave, but at the end is a deep and bottomless hole. He tries to stop himself before falls forward, but his attempt is too late, and he trips. For what seems an eternity to the young Hylian, he falls down through the darkness without so much as a peep. Falling all around him are symbols, some of an ocarina, some of masks, but all brightly colored and familiar from his previous quest.

Finally at the end he lands softly on a large pink flower, Before him floats the Skull Kid, relaxed and in a spot of light. Link only stares at the Skull Kid, recognizing him finally. The boy is the same one who gave him a heart piece back in the Lost Woods because he knew Saria's Song. How could be the same one who stole his horse and his ocarina? Surely something must have happened. The two fairies are nearby.

"What's with that stupid horse of yours?! It doesn't listen to a word that's said to it… There's no point in riding a thing like that, so I did you a favor and got rid of it… Hee, hee…" That proclamation causes fear in Link for the steed's safety. Not only is she his loyal horse, but he promised Malon that he would keep her safe. If anything did happen, Malon would be devastated, and Link would be responsible. "Aww, boo-hoo. Why the sad face? I just thought I'd have a little fun with you…" Deciding to have some more of what he calls fun, the Skull Kid conjures up a power Link did not know he possessed and chants something quickly. Before the hero realizes just what is happening, pain goes through his ten year old body, and pictures of Deku Scrubs fill his mind. Once the wave is gone, he tries to get his bearings and shakes his head at the ground. He also notices the pool of water there and the Deku staring at him. Wait a second, he thinks. That's his reflection. _**He's**_ the Deku Scrub, that short wimpy looking thing. Freaking out a bit, he looks up at the trio. This is only amusing still. "Hee, hee! Now that's a good look for you! You'll stay here looking that way forever!" With that, the mischievous one turns and runs, Tael fast on his trail. Tatl stays for a second to taunt Link directly in his face, but as she turns around to follow her brother and Skull Kid, the door slams shut, trapping them both.

"Whoa, whoa! Skull Kid, wait for me! I'm still here!!! Tael, you can't leave without me!" In haste, she flies to the door and pounds it a few insignificant times, which does not at all help. She looks back at Link when nothing happens, the anger welling up in her small fairy body. "You! If I wasn't dealing with you, I wouldn't have gotten separated from my brother! Well, don't just sit there, Deku Boy! Do something!" He doesn't move and inch and just stares sort of helplessly at her, his new Deku face long. "…Why are you looking at me like that? What, is there something stuck on my face? Will you stop staring and just open that door for me?!? Please!!! C'mon, a helpless, little girl is asking you… So hurry up! Oh, Tael… I wonder if that child will be all right on his own?" She looks back at the door, genuine worry in her tone. Because he has no intentions of staying this way forever, Link decides to go after the Skull Kid for his own benefit. He opens the door and runs down a hallway, noticing how much different a Deku Scrub's body is. With shorter legs, he runs much slower, and he is so short in stature he cannot stand it. He has to fix this soon and get his ocarina and Epona back.

Flying quickly after him, Tatl tries to catch up to the cursed one. She intends on offering her help (albeit for her own selfish gain), and this is how he is going to act. She might think about changing her mind. She right away decides against this because she needs him whether or not she wants to admit. Behind the attitude, she really does care about Tael, no matter how annoying that boy can be.

"Hey wait for me! Don't leave me behind!" He stops and looks back at her in silence. Now she feels the guilt. "So um…That stuff I said back there…I…um…apologize, so… So take me with you! You wanna know about that Skull Kid that just ran off, right? Well, I just so happen to have an idea of where he might be going. Take me with you and I'll help you out. Deal? Please?" He takes a second to think about this, but ultimately he aggress because they need each other's help. He nods. This pleases her. "Good! So then let's get settled! Now then, I'll be your partner…or at least until we catch that Skull Kid… My name's Tatl. So, uh, it's nice to meet you or whatever." Link finds the last word a bit funny but doesn't say anything. "Now that we've got that all straightened out, can we stop messing around and get moving? If I figure something out, I'll tell it to you. Hopefully you'll manage to get by without my help until then!"

With his new (and temporary) fairy partner, the small Deku approaches an open area to continue this new and hopefully short side quest. To get across the divide, he uses the flowers to fly and land on the various struts of land until he reaches the end, where yet another cave sits. Great, he thinks. What could this one possibly have in store? Surely it cannot be worse than what has happened so far. Before he can even approach it though, Tatl bugs him already with some advice. As of he didn't already know how to Z-target and talk to people. That was one of the first things _she_ taught him… For a second, he almost tears up as he remembers her. He doesn't hear Tatl's encouraging words and only focuses on keeping himself in line.

"See, I told you could do it of you tried!" she says happily. He doesn't respond, and she looks at him a little closer. The tree trunk she was hovering around also catches her attention. "It's strange, but the way you look right now sort of looks like this tree… It looks all dark and gloomy…almost like it could start crying any second now… How sad…" Shaking his head, Link forges forward into the darkness a third time.

This time, he comes out safely on the other end. A door slams shut, locking them both here. HE surveys the area to see where they have arrived, and it seems strange to him. He is not quite sure what to make of it, but she apparently has come through here before as she say nothing. It's like the bottom of a ferry or some sort of boat with a flight or actual stairs, which he runs up. A door is at the top, but before he can push through it, a voice stops him.

"You've met a terrible fate, haven't you?" They both turn around having been startled. A man with a large pack stands across the way, his hands clasped. This guy Link knows. He owns a shop in Hyrule Castle Town that lets a person borrow masks and sell them to people. Eventually he himself sold them all and earned the Mask of Truth, which allowed anyone to read the Gossip Stones scattered around the land. "I own the happy mask shop. I travel far and wide in search of masks… During my travels, a very important mask was stolen from me by an imp in the woods. So here I am at loss… And now I've found you. Now don't think me rude, but I have been following you… For I know of a way to return you to your former self. If you can get back that precious item that was stolen from you, I will return you to normal. In exchange… " He trails off, and Link wonders what the bargain will be. "All I ask is that you also get back my precious mask that the imp stole from me. What? Is it not a simple task? Why, to someone like you, it should by no means be a difficult task. Except… The one thing is…I'm a very busy fellow.. And I must leave this place in three days. How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my time here is up… But yes…You'll be fine. Oh, I see you are young and have tremendous courage. I'm sure you'll find it right away. Well then, I am counting on you…" With that, he just stops talking, apparently meaning Link is supposed to go now. He stares at the man for a few lingering seconds before turning and pushing the door open to a new land. Light blinds his eyes, and he squints as he and Tatl walk out into the early morning.

Thus it began, the Dawn of the First Day with only seventy-two hours remaining until the end of the world. He had three days to retrieve the mask now possessed by the Skull Kid to fulfill his end of the bargain and reunite Tatl with her brother. In his mind was Epona, the foal he had pledged to protect as he borrowed her from her home. He would have to repeat the same cycle of three days many times until he had awakened the four guardians from their slumber. Along the way were the various people he met, most of who had a back story that somehow came to involve him as well. Being the hero, he of course had to act and help them in whatever their plight, even if it meant reuniting a child with his fiancé.

Actually, Kafei and Anju were his favorite side quest because of their character and devotion to each other, no matter what had happened or was about to befall everyone. He would never admit this, but he has always had a soft spot for love, even though to everyone else he is only ten years old and could not possibly know the emotion. Love is what he has for Saria and what Malon has for her colt. No matter what shape it takes, it is a powerful force, almost as strong as courage and the will to accomplish anything. Because of both of these things, getting the mask was not even a problem. Facing Ganondorf himself would prepare a warrior for anything. Well, except maybe in people relations, which Link admits he needs some work in.

It was a fun battle, though, he smirks as he walks toward the clock tower. With Majora's Mask safely in his possession, all he has to do is present it to the mask salesman and be on his way. Once more he can continue searching for his friend. Granted he made a few new ones here, even Tatl who is nothing at all like Navi. Sure, she helped out sometimes, but she had her own agenda. Navi was his guide, his best friend who saw him through every part of his quest. When he was unsure and scared about failing or dying, she was there to urge him on with her words of encouragement. He needs to find her, if only to tell her how thankful he is.

Now if only he could find that mask guy. Stopping in front of the clock tower, he scans South Clocktown for any sign of the man. All he sees is the postman running around with his pack and a little dog yapping its head off. That same mutt attacked him when he was in Deku form but ran fast as hell when he was a Goron. In a way, it was a form of payback. Not that he did it very often or anything. That would just be mean. Finally he spots a man cautiously creeping down the stairs from the laundry pool, trying to head out of town unnoticed. Right away Link takes off to catch him before he can leave, and he stops in front of the guy, startling him quite a bit.

" Hey there," Link greats friendlily. "I'm glad I found you. I have your mask back finally. I'm sure you really want it."

"What mask?" At those words, Link's face drops.

"What do you mean what mask? Majora's Mask, the thing I risked my life on to get back for you."  
"I'm sorry to say I have no idea what you are talking about."

"How can you have no idea? We made a deal. I get the mask back in exchange for you helping me. Now you're supposed to tell me how to get back to my world."

"Your world? The only world is Termina, where we are at right now."

"Are you serious?" Apparently the mask man is confused by all of this, and his expression shows it.

"Of course I am serious. Why wouldn't I be?"

"But how can you not remember me? I went back in time I don't know how many times and you still remembered me. After beating Majora, I didn't even have to travel back." He stops talking and looks like he's thinking instead. The mask man only watches in silence, not quite sure what to say himself besides goodbye. If he wants to continue on living healthily, he'll keep his mouth shut anyway or at least that is what he was told. "Maybe somebody wants me to stay here…" Link says aloud.

"Oh, look at the time," the mask man suddenly panics. "I must be on my way. I am sorry again I could not help you." Without giving Link a chance to say anything at all, he takes off through the exit into South Termina Field. The guard there looks at him as he goes by before returning his attention straight ahead, and the little dog keeps yapping away. The young Hero of Time is left speechless, only able to mutter aloud how weird that encounter was.

"What's weird?" He spins around at the voice, only to have to look down to see one of the boys from the Bomber Gang. The six-year stares innocently up at him.

"What?"

"You said something was weird. What is it?"

"Nothing. I'm just talking to myself out loud."

"Oh." Link expects the kid to go away, but he doesn't move and instead stands there still looking at the one in green. "I think that guy with the masks was pretty weird."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, he was standing by the mailbox a little while ago, and all of a sudden, he started talking to himself and yelling too. Then he got scared and quiet at the same time."

"Really?" The kid nods. "That does sound weird. I think I might know what's going on then."

"Ooh, ooh, tell me!" Link laughs to himself, remembering when he was that age and so easily excited and eager to be included in things. However, because he is a little boy and this involves serious dealings with some bad people, he cannot share. First, he does not want anyone else to get hurt on account of him. Secondly, he wants to go home and will dare not try anything that will jeopardize this.

"Sorry, I have to go, too." He takes off then out the same entrance, leaving the little boy alone to wonder and to think that both of them are really weird. Maybe Jim should have higher standards next time he offers to induct someone else into the Bomber's Secret Society of Justice.

Being stealthy and curious at the same time, Link follows the mask man through Termina field without letting on to his presence. If he will not talk to Link about what ever is going on, maybe he can catch him talking to himself just as the bomber kid said. Being furtive though, is not too necessary since the man is so distracted by the thing that is making him act so strangely. All Link really has to do is maintain a distance of about thirty or so feet without making too much noise and bumping into anyone who wants to chat on the way. Thankfully not too many people are out right now. Most are either celebrating the saving of the world or still wrapped up in the festival, even though it was over last night.

The path seems to be a straight one as he follows him directly to the beach, where he stops at the shore and stares out over the blue water. Link stops this time only about ten feet behind and watches out over the water as well. He came here to confront the man, but the sea breeze and the sound of the gulls calling above has more of a calming effect than anything. There are no oceans in Hyrule that he ever saw, just Lake Hylia though it was quite large itself. He liked to stand on its banks as well when he had to think but only after he had saved the Water Temple from that amoebic monster.

Shaking his head, he remembers what his original intention was. He was getting too lost in his own head, which he can't do at the moment. He starts to approach the mask man but stops in his tracks when he realizes that he is now talking to himself. The bomber was, for once, not making something up.

"Leave me alone! I already did what you said. Why are still bothering me?" Even more confused, he continues to listen. Either he is crazy and talking to himself or some voice is tormenting him from inside his mind. The latter would make no sense to the ten year old he was before beginning his adventures, but Link knows better now. If it is a voice, then all Link has to do is figure out who it is and why they are bothering him. Maybe Gannon was not sealed away as everyone previously thought. That means someone does not want him to come home to Hyrule, which is even more reason that he has to get out of here. Then the mask man turns around he spots him standing there. He panics internally as the man comes closer. "What are you doing here?"

"I was...enjoying…the sunset. Yeah, that's it."

"But it's only four in the afternoon."

"Well, I was getting ready to watch it later on. I needed to find the perfect spot."

"Oh, you must mean you were getting ready for a date. It's nice to see young people enjoying their youth."

"No, it isn't like that." The man looks at him curiously, and Link realizes that no other explanation will cut it. "Yeah, that's it. A date."

"That's nice. Who is the young lady lucky enough to have a rendezvous with-" He stops himself from saying hero and substitutes something else. "-a thoughtful young man such as yourself?"

"Uh…" He tries to think, realizing that he really does not know anyone here well enough. Only one girl his age comes to mind. "The girl from the ranch. I asked her earlier today."

"Well, how nice. I hope you two have a good time."

"Thank you." A silence passes between them as the mask man tries to think of what to say now, and Link tries to figure out how exactly to phrase his question. Then it comes to him as simple as could be. "So what are you doing here?"

"I was just thinking about where I should go now. After I got my mask back from you- oops!" He clamps his hand over his mouth and looks panicked.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I have to go." He runs off after that, leaving Link alone again to watch as he heads to Clock Town. Instead of following after him, though, he decides to wait and try to catch him later. Following him here yielded no information, and the same would probably be true if he tried again so soon. Slightly disheartened, he turns back toward Clock Town.

The mask man, meanwhile, tries to run away from Link and even from the voice in his head. The second thing he is not accomplishing so well, but he picks up his pace despite this.

'Hey mask man, were are you going?' a normally deep male voice asks. He stops walking and looks down.

'What do you want from me?'

'Make sure Link does not return home. That is all you have to do. After he has gotten settled in, you will be allowed to return to Hyrule. Once he has gotten used to Termina being longer than a temporary stay, his homecoming will no longer be a threat.' The mask man does not answer the voice right away, not at all liking that he has to lie to the young hero. However, he also has no wishes of pissing off the one who has already threatened him. Agreeing but with some reluctance, he tells the voice in his head that he will do what has been asked. The man invading his mind from afar is pleased by this and thus terminates their connection for the time being. Right now he has other plans to make.


	5. Home is Where the Cows Are

Finally this is chapter five. It's been a long time in the works, but hopefully it keeps the pace. Enjoy and comment if you'd like.

**Home is Where the Cows Are**

Having nothing else to do, Link heads back to Clock Town himself. If he cannot figure out this problem by tonight, he is going to need some place he can stay. He has enough money in his wallet, and he also has a hefty sum saved up in the town bank. About the only good thing about going back in time was the fact he could collect as many rupees each time and his balance was never affected. Now that the festival is over, people are probably leaving town, which means vacancy in the Stock Pot Inn. Kafei and Anju are no doubt off on their honeymoon, leaving her mother in charge of the place. Since he was the one who reunited the young couple, maybe she will even give him a discount on his room.

As he comes through the westentrance, he notes how empty everything in this side of town seems. It was always that way save for the bomber kid who always hangs out on the stairs walking back and forth. He heads straightaway to the bank, which is on the right. It amazes him every time that the man who owns the place can remember his customers so well. He could, however do without the remarks he receives whenever he withdraws a large sum of rupees. Even though Link just thought to himself that he has enough in his wallet, he takes out an extra fifty for food. All of this running around can make a person hungry, especially an adolescent boy who is still growing.

Once he has finished with his transaction, he heads down the stairs toward the South portion of Clock Town. This way he can cut across to the east side a little more quickly than backtracking up, which goes out of the way. This way, too, he avoids that annoying yappy type dog who tormented him as a Deku scrub and who hangs around the tower. The Inn is right there on his left as soon as he walks through this entrance, and he wastes no time opening the door and going inside. As he predicted, Anju's mother is at the desk in her daughter's place. Currently she has no customers needing her assistance, so he walks right on up intent on asking if there are any vacancies.

"Hello. May I help you?" she greets him in an unusually friendly manner. She's probably just happy her only daughter married the man she loved, which is unknowingly all of his doing.

"I was just wondering if you have any rooms available. I need a place to stay for tonight."

"I'm not sure a young man like yourself would be able to afford a room here."

"Actually, I've saved a lot of money on my travels. I just can't get home tonight, and since I've only heard good things about this inn, I thought I would spend some of my three thousand rupees here." Her face drops at that while he adds to himself that this is the only place around here that is an inn anyways. "Besides, I know Anju pretty well. I did help reunite her and Kafei after all." That completely changes her expression.

"You're the one who found that bum who left my daughter days before their wedding without so much as a word or an explanation?"

"Yep, that was me," he announces proudly, not catching her tone.

"Get out!!"

"What?" He backs up a bit from the counter and looks at her very confused, having no idea why she would react that way.

"My daughter married that no-good purple haired spoiled brat. He took off right before their wedding without thinking of how it would affect Anju. He's just like his mother- spoiled and selfish."

"But she's happy. She wanted to marry him." The real explanation for Kafei running off Link chooses not to reveal because he feels it is the young couple's business alone. Besides, like the woman would believe him.

"She thinks she is happy now, but soon enough she'll realize what he is truly like." She calms herself down a bit so as not to pass along the image that she is hot-tempered and judgmental though Link can easily see how different Anju is from her mother. "Now why don't you move along? We don't have any vacancies."

"But the carnival is over."

"We do have guests year round, you know." Having not really considered that before, he accepts her answer and thanks her anyway. She doesn't really respond to this, and she barely says goodbye when he tells her the same and walks out the door. Her glare continues, however, but she decides to simply forget about it. Her daughter will be home in a few days, and she will continue her meddling once again.

With his only plan completely defeated, Link sighs and stands in front of the inn. He may have spent many three-day cycles in this land, but he has no idea where else he can go. He can't go home until he figures out what is going on with the Happy Mask Salesman, and he doesn't really have any friends besides Kafei and Anju. The only reason he spent so much time with them was because their side quest was probably the most involved. He is glad he was able to help the couple, but now he is stuck in a foreign land with not a clue of what to do next.

Deciding to wander around and try to figure something else out, he goes to turn and walk away from the inn. He has to figure something out that he can do for the time being, and hopefully this will stimulate that thought process. Just as he does so, one of the Bombers is suddenly right there and blocking his path. Because this startles him, he takes a step back and runs into the post supporting the awning over the inn's entrance. The little boy points and laughs as the one in green brushes himself off, choosing not to waste a glare on someone like him. Right now he has more important things to worry about.

"I hope those weren't the skills you used to find the mask man," he says sounding just as obnoxious as the comment itself. Link goes to walk past him. "Seriously, did you find him?" At that, he stops and looks back.

"He was by the beach. Why are you so interested?"

"I was just wondering if you found out why he was talking to himself. It was creepy. I thought maybe he would go all postal on you and do something really gory and gross."

"How old are you?" he asks, finding those thoughts strange coming from a child.

"I'm seven. Why do you wanna know?" Not having a good explanation, Link stays silent, but he gets it despite being so young. "Just 'cause I'm a kid doesn't mean I haven't heard of stuff like that. You don't have to be mean about it. I don't know why Jim even let you be one of us anyway." Reversing what was to be the original situation, the little Bomber takes off up the stairs toward the mayor's office. He's probably heading to the secret tunnel, but that is the last thing Link wants to care about.

Instead, he sighs and leans back against the pole. He very much does not want to walk around the town and figure things out. He just wants to go home and to continue on his search for Navi. When he finally finds her, he can then return to Hyrule and to his tree house and friends and even Malon. After all, he did promise to bring Epona back safely, even if he is denying to himself there is more meaning behind that. He would rather fight Majora or Ganon right now.

"You haven't gone into the business of scaring young children now, have you?" a voice asks him from nowhere. Startled, he looks up to see fiery red hair and a small smile from her own comment. First he thinks of Epona's owner before remembering where he is. The older ranch sister waits for him to answer.

"No, I just offended him. He'll get over it."

"And what about you? Why are you looking so sullen?"

"I just found out that I have to take care of some things before I leave, but I have nowhere to go in the meantime. I tried the inn, but Anju's mom said it was full. Plus she wasn't too happy with me when she found out I was the one to reunite her with Kafei." Cremia laughs out loud at that.

"That does sound like her. I wouldn't take it too personally. She was having issues with Anju getting married before you came here, and everyone knows how happy they both are now." Because the rest of the world sees him as being young still, he does not say anything too grown up about the situation.

"Lately I pretty much seem to be helping everyone else. I'm glad they're happy, but now I don't know what to do about myself."

"Well, why don't you come stay at the ranch until you figure it out?"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I am. You saved my little sister, and you helped me on that milk run. It's the least I could do."

"That would be great as long as Romani doesn't mind, either."

"Don't worry about her. She hardly gets visitors. Besides, I think she has a little crush on you." At that, Link feels heat rise in his cheeks. Cremia can't help but laugh at this also. "If it'll make you feel better, you can help around the ranch since you seem to be in that business lately. Your first assignment can be helping me and Romani unload our milk delivery at the bar next door." Since he has nothing too pressing at the moment, he decides to take her up on the offer. At least it will keep him busy and take his mind off the mask salesman while the guy hopefully goes back to normal. In the meantime, he may as well use this as a break instead of worrying too much about what he can't change. Together the boy in the green and the oldest ranch sister head towards the Milk Bar.

Inside the dimly lit establishment, there are piles of crates in need of proper sorting. The owner of the bar and also a man who looks strikingly familiar to Talon from back home is ordering his men where to put things. Link also recognizes Grog, the Cuccoo shack guy, as being one of the helping hands. The smallest of the bunch is the girl with fiery red hair who apparently has a crush on him, at least according to her sister who may have just been teasing to get a reaction from Link. Further inspection of the boxes reveals that they tell the handler to be careful. Being smug with himself since he has saved the world twice now and surely can handle a box of milk, he picks it up. Quickly he realizes the limitations of his childhood strength with no supernatural aid and struggles to keep the box from falling.

"Hey, be careful with that!" the youngest sister warns as she runs over to help him. Together they set it back down on the wooden floor.

"Why? What's in there?" he asks as he wipes his hands off.

"This is the expensive stuff."

"And that would be…?" he probes further since he knows practically nothing of their business.

"Chateau Romani. It takes forever to just to produce one batch of this stuff."

"How cool is that? You're named after milk." Because it is in her nature, she cannot help but laughing at his little joke even if he did just almost drop a whole box of the good milk. Now that things are lighter, he decides to continue a conversation. "So where'd you really get your name?"

"Romani was actually named after the ranch by my mom and dad."

"That's pretty cool, even though I guess it should be kind of obvious. I always wished I knew where my name came from. I don't even really know where my family came from."

"What happened to your parents?"

"They died, and I was raised by a tree and a group of kids who never got older. We lived in a forest and wore green."

"That's why Romani calls you Grasshopper," she teases.

"Yeah," he blushes a little. "One of my friends from home gave me a nickname, too. At least I know where those come from."

"How did they die?" she continues curiously.

"I don't know about my dad, but my mom was injured escaping a great war that was raging in our country. She went into the forest and died, leaving me with the Great Deku Tree. He let me stay."

"How can a tree be a boy?" She makes a face, He thinks about it.

"Good point." They both laugh a little, never minding the work that is still going on around them and the glares from the Talon looking guy. "You know, I've never met yours and Cremia's parents."

"They died a long time ago. Romani doesn't remember them very well, just Cremia and the ranch."

"I'm sorry. I guess we have something in common at least. Maybe staying on the ranch won't be so weird after all."

"Staying on the ranch?" she asks in a near panicked confusion.

"Your sister invited me to stay until I can go home."

"When can you go home?" He looks down at that.

"I don't know. Hopefully soon." She smiles at him again as well as the thought of getting to spend time with strange young man in green.

"Romani hopes that Grasshoper stays for a while." Again he feels heat rushing to his cheeks and keeps his head down so she cannot see his embarrassment. She only giggles.

"Hey, you two, finish up," the owner, who Link suddenly remembers is named Mr. Barten, reminds them. Both exclaim a sorry and get right back to putting everything away in its assigned place. Cremia stops for a second to smile at the ten year olds before getting back to her own task.

Eventually the trio plus Grog finishes and heads back to Romani Ranch after a job well done. It took about an hour once Link started to help to finish everything, but the whole time the kids stayed away from each other. Cremia just found it amusing, and the others paid no real attention. After all, they are only children. Making sure to take Epona with him, he rides his trusty steed side by side with the wagon from the ranch, reminiscent to him of when he helped protect Cremia and the milk delivery from the Gorman Brothers. As he thinks of that, it occurs to him a little strange that she needed to bring them more supply. Then again, the festival just took place, and after escaping the horrible fate of the moon, a lot of people probably unwound with a drink of the good stuff.

Once there, Cremia puts the horses away and parks the wagon where they store it on downtime. She also has her little sister help out a bit, and after some pouting, she is forced to agree. Since the young hero in green does not have any unpacking to do, he decides to have some fun with his masks and the yappy-type dog that hangs around the ranch. From previous experience he remembers that Goron Link scared the runt the most so he tosses that mask on and transforms. All that can be heard across the open range is the frightened yelps of the poor creature. Feeling a little bad, he switches forms and turns into a Zora. The dog stops, confused for only a second before he runs at the fishman. To further mess with him, he transforms into a Deku. This time he ends up as the butt of the joke when he is tackled. Angry now, he puts the Goron mask on a second time and chases the dog. It runs off into the direction of the house.

At that exact moment, the door opens, and Romani walks out to greet her pet. When she sees the large rock creature rolling around, though, she gets mad, not realizing it is only her new friend having some fun.

"Hey, Mr. Foreigner, cut it out!" He stops and turns around to see her, hoping she is as dense as she seems and won't recognize the green cap on his head. "Puppy, come here boy." Feeling safe, he barks to let her know and scamps over to his "cute-faced" owner. She picks him up and hugs him. "Aw, is Mr. Foreigner being mean to you?" He growls. Link takes the mask off and puts it away quickly. She turns around to face the Goron, only to find Link looking innocently at her. "Where'd he go?"

"Where did who go?" He looks around feigning confusion.

"Mr. Foreigner."

"There's no one here except you and me."

"But he was just there…"

"Why don't we forget about him and go get something to eat?" he suggests. "It's dinner now, and I know I'm hungry after all that work." Reluctantly agreeing, she puts the dog down and follows him over to the ranch house. Still, though, she cannot get over where that Goron guy went to and why he would be visiting here in the first place.

The sound of the door startles the one standing at the stove, and the oldest sister looks over at the pair of kids. Apparently she already got a jump on what he started thinking about half way through the ride back here. Romani tells her sister she is going upstairs to change for dinner, and this is acknowledged. Next she tells Link she'll be right back before taking off up the stairs. With his stomach steering the helm, he sniffs the air to see what is on the menu.

"That smells really good," he compliments when his senses approve.

"Thank you," Cremia responds as she pulls the large wooden spoon out and sets it on a towel. "I got the recipe from a friend a few days ago."

"Would that friend happen to be Anju?"

"Yes, it would." He pales a bit at that, but she only laughs when she realizes why this is his reaction. "Don't worry. I learned how to cook from my mom."

"Oh…"

"She was a chef in her spare time. Actually, she was part owner of the restaurant that used to be where the Milk Bar is now."

"Oh!" He perks up. "You must have learned young then."

"Why do you say that?" she asks curiously as she comes closer.

"Romani told me your parents died when she was little." Cremia frowns at that, and Link becomes confused.

"That's' what she likes to tell people, but it's not exactly true." His expression begs her to continue, so she does. "Our dad went on a trip to barter for a new breed of cow, but he was ambushed and killed on the way back. Our mother raised us in between taking care of the ranch and running her restaurant. She eventually had to give that up when she got sick. I started to take on more responsibility around here, which is when I learned to cook. Almost two years ago she couldn't fight being sick anymore, and she died." Not expecting to hear that, he wants to apologize but cannot find his words. He lost his mother as an infant and never knew anything of his father, but at least he didn't have to watch her suffer. "Romani took it very hard, and that's what she tells people. I guess it's easier to pretend she can't remember our mom for now."

"I'm really sorry about that." She only smiles.

"Don't be. Life has its sorrows, but it can also be full of happiness, too. I wouldn't change anything. Besides, life around here is sure to perk up with you staying with us." He smiles lightly at her, glad for the compliment and temporarily forgetting that he needs to find a way back home.

Interrupting the conversation turned silence, the younger one comes flying down the stairs in a new dress that doesn't look much different to Link. She looks just as nice as before, but it must be a girl thing.

"Sister, did you see any visitors here today?" Link laughs nervously.

"What do you mean visitors?" she asks her baby sister.

"A Goron was chasing little Richard around outside."

"Why would a Goron be all the way down here?"

"Romani doesn't know, but he was trying to run over Richard."

"I'm sure he wasn't trying to run anyone over," Link interjects, not wanting his secret motives to be made violent. Romani looks at him suspiciously.

"You said you didn't see anyone here." He sweat drops and rubs his neck.

"Let's just forget about it. Richard's okay, and I'm hungry. So what's for dinner?"

"You'll see when it's done," Cremia chastises his impatience. "In the meantime, can you two take the leftovers from lunch over to Grog and Lady Mamamu?"

"You make food for them, too?"

"Lady Mamamu and I trade off sometimes, and I like to help Grog out. He's all skin and bones. Haven't you seen him?" Nodding his head, Link concedes her point. He is pretty sickly looking. "Anyway, do you mind?"

"Not at all," he answers semi-enthusiastically. "You are letting me stay here."

"Thank you," she says as she hands them each a basket. "When you two get back, I'll have our dinner ready."

"Sounds good to me. Come on, Romani." He heads toward the door and waits for her to come along, which she does almost right away. Being the nice guy he is generally known for, he holds the door open before following the redhead and closing it behind them both. From the stove, Cremia chuckles to herself as she goes about adding the next ingredient to her mother's favorite stew recipe. It is a treat that is only made for special occasions, and taking in a new resident counts in her book. Something about the young boy in green seems different to her, and that something she has a feeling her little sister sees. That alone makes her smile.


	6. Settling In

Here's chapter six, up and ready for your reading pleasure. Read and review if you like. Otherwise, enjoy.

* * *

As the two cross the wide open space toward the Cuccoo Shack, Link hums his favorite theme song. He isn't sure, but he remembers hearing it each time as he was crossing Hyrule Field. He thought he was being crazy because he was listening to made up background music, but he got to like the song. This seems like a little mini adventure to him, so he decided the song is appropriate. Romani also decides that she likes it.

"Where'd you learn that song?" she asks him curiously.

"From back home. It was always playing when I was the field." To any other person, that confession would sound very strange, but she only thinks about how she enjoys the tune.

"Romani likes that song.'  
"Yeah, it's my favorite. I also liked this one that reminded me of a Wild West adventure. But I guess it makes sense since I was in a ranch and all."  
"A ranch?"

"A girl named Malon lived there with her dad Talon and the ranch hand Ingo." He pauses like he is thinking. "Come to think of it, you remind of Malon. You look a lot like her."

"Romani does not," she protests.

"How would you know? You've never seen her." To that, she does not have a good comeback or even one at all. He stops and sticks his face in hers. "Yep, you do look like her."

"Get away!" She shoves him back and keeps walking. He jogs to catch up after a second of realizing she just basically hit him.

"I'm sorry. It's just really weird. This guy Grog we're about to visit looks like someone back home, too."

"It's okay. Romani got over it five feet ago. Besides, we're here."

He looks up and realizes that indeed they have made it to their destination. He holds the door open for her before following suit and coming inside, Cuccoos are running around pica-ing, and Grog sits against his tree like normal. Romani friendlily greets him, and he looks up sporting a very small smile of his own.

"Hi, Romani." It is know that he notices the young one in green beside her. "And you're name was Link, right?" The Hero of Time nods. "Thank you again for helping my chicks to become full grown Cuccoos. I was so sure the world was going to end, and that helped a lot. Now that everything is okay again, I get to watch them all the time."

"You're welcome. I'm kind of hero business. It's what I do."

"Grasshopper saved the cows and Romani from the aliens, too. He was very brave." Kind of embarrassed at her compliment, he blushes and looks down. Romani giggles to herself.

"So what are you two doing here?"

"Bringing the food Sister made for you, and Grasshopper is helping."

"How sweet," he teases, knowing full well how it will affect the green one.

"We're just friends," he stammers, even though he truly does not have a crush on the girl with red hair. His heart belongs to the ranch girl from home who doesn't even remember their teenage times spent together. The one beside him may bear a resemblance to his true crush, but he barely knows her. Giggling again, Romani hands out the basket with his meal.

"Here you go. Romani and Grasshopper still have to visit Lady Mamau."

"Alright. Tell your sister thank you for me. And thank you both also."

"You're welcome," she answers with her smile. "Come on, Grasshopper." She starts toward the first with him behind, and the pair exits for the race track.

Embarrassed still, Link stays behind her on the short walk there. She pays no real attention to him and skips happily along now that her hands are free. He holds the meal for the older lady and only hopes along the way that she does not make any comments like Grog. They're too young anyway to worry about that. Then again, he did hear of some things about the couple he helped reunite. They had known each other since childhood along with Cremia, and according to Anju's mom, there were some feelings between the eldest ranch sister and her future son-in-law. But then again, that could just as easily have been gossip from a mother who did not approve of her daughter's fiancé, especially when he disappeared right before their wedding.

Just as quickly as before do they reach their destination. She holds the door this time since his hands are full, and she follows him inside. Dogs yap in the background, and the place is quiet like usual. Link tried his hand at betting here, but he was not any good at it. Despite amassing a large sum of rupees due to his constant repetition in three day cycles here, he decided not to waste too much trying to improve his skills. With Grog's comments still in his mind, he decides to make sure the woman here has nothing similar to say, he decides to present himself as someone of little manners.

"Hey, lady, here's your food."

"Don't be so rude, Grasshopper," she whispers not too quietly. Lady Mamau comes over to the pair, apparently not even angered by his comment.

"Hello, Romani. How is everything?"

"Sister is fine, and Romani is good, too."

"That's good to hear. And as for you young man…" She turns to him now, an emotionless expression on her face as he cowers away. "It's so nice of you to help out around the ranch. It's also good to see a new face here." In relief, he sighs.

"Thank you. Cremia and Romani have been very nice, and I'll try hard to be a good ranch hand."

"Oh, how cute." She messes up his hair, and he scowls, unable to do anything else because of his hands being full and his kind nature winning out this time. She then takes from him the basket and inspects it closely. "Thank you both for bringing this over, and let your sister know I'll make dinner tomorrow. Now why don't you two run along?"

"Bye," Romani bids farewell happily, which Link is beginning to notice she quite often is.

Having left the dog track, the two young ones head back toward the ranch house for their turn at dinner. This time they do not really talk about anything. Since they did just meet, it seems all conversation has been exhausted until they know each other better. Link, though, is used to awkward pauses, many of those with the ranch girl at home. For the first time it hits him mow much he misses all of his friends, especially the one he set off on this journey to find. He honestly lost track of how many three day cycles he went through before he beat Majora and saved this land. It feels like forever, but he also realizes that by thinking too much of them, he will only yearn to leave even more.

In the mean time, he tells himself to try and think of a good conversation topic. They have a few minutes left of walking to get to know each other a little bit better. Besides, he dislikes there silences as much as he is used to them. She seems content enough skipping along and humming his favorite song, which apparently is now hers, too. Not being able to think of anything good enough to say, especially with what Cremia told him about their lives and growing up. He decides he is content enough listening to her hum the song he taught her, and he even has to keep himself from skipping also. To do so is unbecoming of the Hero of Time, even if he is ten and no one but Zelda knows his real destiny.

Soon enough they are back at the original start point, and he holds the door open again for her. She giggles and thanks him as she goes him. He shakes his head and hopes she doesn't find everything he does to be amusing this way. She kind of reminds him of Malon when she does so, and he wants to reminded of that place as much as he wants to face Ganon again. He has to make the most of this place for now, and he also does not want to let himself be reminded too much of his ranch friend. Romani can just be way too weird for him sometimes, and he has only been acquainted with them seriously for about three hours.

Inside Cremia has set up the table for their meal, and the smell of dinner fills the room. Link takes one sniff and practically jumps into his seat. He picks up the napkin, puts it in his shirt, and folds his hands in his lap to wait patiently. Cremia goes about getting the food and drinks ready to be served. Romani now stares at him, no longer impressed or thinking he is funny. He stares back innocently before defending himself.

"What? I'm hungry. I haven't eaten in forever." Because it isn't important anyway, she just takes her normal seat across from her sister's end and perpendicular to Link's position. In the meantime, she plays with her silver while he sits there trying to be good about waiting.

A few minutes later, Cremia finally finishes everything and brings the pot over. She sets it down, and Link looks really eager to dig in. Usually his manners are better, but the last time he had real food was at the castle a few days before he left to find Navi. All that is left is for her to get the drinks, which he is hoping is Chateau Romani. She sits down with them and stays silent like she is waiting for something. Link does not know this, but the family used to pray to this land's god, whom many believe to watch them from his place as the moon. No one spoke of this, but when it got close enough to destroy everything, this town began to fear their beliefs were wrong. Her hesitation is partly that and the fact it is still hard for her sister to go on with activities that can remind her of when they were a family. Eventually his impatience gets the better of him along with his appetite.

"Can we eat now?" he blurts out suddenly. Both sisters look at him strangely, but quickly the eldest realizes his reason for being so blunt like that.

"I'm sorry, Link. Of course we can eat. I hope you enjoy it." Without wasting any more time thinking or talking, the young hero begins to dig in, trying to retain his manners as best he can. Romani starts to eat as well, and Cremia watches both of them for a few seconds before shaking off memories of the past and dining as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the Hero of Time sits down to a home cooked dinner, his best friend from Kokiri Forest is taking her anger out on her other friends. He left without so much as an actual goodbye, just a short explanation in some note looking like it was scribbled last second. All anyone can tell her is that he left the forest and has yet to be back. The first time he left he wasn't going to say farewell, even though she doesn't remember experiencing that. She caught him as he was crossing the bridge to the field. She told him then of some of her truest feelings and gave him her prized possession. She knew how important it would be without really knowing why. He was always special, especially to her. She watched him grow up and played with him as best friends do. And the he was gone, off on an adventure. Now he has gone again, leaving her alone in this time as well to feel the sadness again but for the first time.

She angrily paces around the forest floor, and Mido sees this as his chance to get on her good side. He had a change of heart in the other future so there is some good in him somewhere. All he ever really wanted was her to see him the way she sees Link. Quietly he tries to approach her as he knows she is mad, and she takes no notice as he nears her by the pond. She stopped pacing and began staring into the water at her reflection, perhaps trying to calm herself. His sudden presence and voice startle her, though, and her reaction is to scream and shove the intruder. Poor Mido falls into the water, and she pales as she realizes what she did.

"Mido, I'm so sorry," she apologizes as she extends her hand to help him up. He takes it and crawls out now soaking wet. All he does, though, is grin at her.

"Don't worry. It's a warm day today. I was just coming over to see if you were okay."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she lies through her teeth. He sees right through this.

"Come on, Saria. I know you miss him."

"Miss who?" she asks indignantly as she crosses her arms and turns around. She must really be angry to not even acknowledge his absence, he realizes. "What else do you want, Mido?"

"Nothing. Sorry." He goes to head to his house, but she feels bad. He is only trying to be a friend, and despite some of the things he has done to Link, he is a good guy.

"Wait." He turns back around now hopeful. "Do you want to talk or something?"

"Yeah, sure. That would be nice." He comes back over, and they decide to take a stroll through the forest while they chat.

* * *

As two of Link's friends begin to talk and go on with their day as normal without him, the young princess of the land is just as worried about the young hero. He promised to keep in touch, but so far she has not heard a word from him. It may only have been a week their time since the two parted ways, but he is not prone to breaking his promise, even if he is on a new adventure. She only hopes that everything is alright. There had been reports coming in to the court that an imp of sorts was terrorizing travelers on the outskirts of Hyrule. She thought nothing of it in relation to Link because he had saved the whole land and defeated the King of Evil. Surely he could handle a nuisance like that. She also convinced her father not send anyone out to take care of the problem because she was so sure Link would do so on his way out of the country. Those reports stopped coming in about the sane time that Link left, which only makes her worry more.

With a sigh, she looks away from the window where Link first peeked a glance at the one he was to ultimately destroy. Her father is on his throne being counseled by his lead guard about something of mild importance. She has been toying with asking her father to send some men out in search of the hero or the imp, but they do not see Link as a hero. He has his childhood back, but it was at the expense of only she and Link having memories of that future. He never said anything to her, but he was somewhat reluctant if only for a certain ranch girl. Zelda, in the future, watched him from afar get close to Malon before she revealed herself to be Sheik. As for looking for the trouble-maker, she would only be laughed at. There have been no reports in six days, and even the ones who did confront him only complained of minor offenses. If it wasn't' serious enough for them to ask for investigation, the ten year old princess would have no grounds. The guards already think she is cute and clever for sending "Mr. Hero" on a journey for her (a small errand not to be confused with his original climb up Death Mountain). The man watching Death Mountain Trail sure has a big mouth. Besides, she already made a case not to send anyone.

Still, she has been regretting her decision the whole time because of a nagging feeling. Something else seems afoot, even if there are no signs yet. What makes it worse even to her is that she has not had any dreams to go on. Impa assures her nothing is wrong. After all, wouldn't the other Sages also sense it coming even if they are not conscious of their true selves? Their journey and relationship to each other and to Ganondorf changed when Zelda reset things, but they are still close. What they have is deeper than school friends or those you meet on your travels, but that deepness is only a stronger bond. It is this thought along with how she has convinced herself that she is right that she approaches her father.

"Father, may I speak with you?" The king looks over at his only child and sees how important she thinks what she has to say is. He dismisses Sigurd for a moment to allow his princess discourse with him.

"What is it, my daughter?"

"I know earlier this week I made the case not to send anyone out to see what was going on in the outskirts of our kingdom, but I feel that was a mistake."

"You were not the only one to protest sending men out that way. The ones attacked assured me it was no trouble and that it would be a waste of time. It was an imp child who would tire of his antics and go back from whence he had come."

"Don't you find it odd that the man from the west appeared around the same time? I feel his presence holds something negative for Hyrule."

"Not this again, Zelda." He sounds exasperated, and she gets angry that he is not taking her seriously. No one did last time, and they couldn't even learn from their mistake. "You are always paranoid, and I think the only reason you wish to send men out that way is to look for your friend, that boy in green." Having been caught, she says nothing and looks down. "I will not investigate an event that is over, and I will not waste manpower on a child who is of no significance to this court."

"He's important to me."

"He is an orphan child not worthy of my resources. We are done discussing this. I must get back to the more important business at hand." Reluctant to interrupt, Sigurd starts again slowly.

A little bit in surprise, she watches for a few seconds before turning and leaving. That did not at all sound like her father. Usually he is caring and willing to help, especially at his daughter's urging. Something else must be going on, something they do not want her to know. That man who appeared a week ago and who looks strikingly similar to Ganondorf has a hand in things, of that she is sure. She doesn't need a premonition to tell her that this time. Hopefully Impa will believe in her as well. After she speaks with Impa, she will try to contact Link herself. He made her promise not to call just to check up on him, but this is too important. Besides, he was mostly joking and likely would not mind talking to her. All she wants is to make sure he is okay. Then she can get to investigating that man herself more thoroughly than her father seems interested in doing.

* * *

Back in his new land, night comes and goes the same as anywhere else. The sleeping arrangements were decent enough as he got a mat to sleep on downstairs. It was not the most comfortable place he has ever been, but it certainly was not the least, either. He was warm and got a good night's rest, and that is all that matters to him as he wakes up slowly and looks around the calm ranch house. Earlier he was half awake when he heard Cremia get up and take the cows out to pasture. He didn't hear her little sis, so he figures she is probably still asleep upstairs. He didn't peg her for an early riser, so he kind of finds humor in the fact he is apparently right. That was a couple of hours ago, so hopefully Cremia will be back soon. Then they can all have some breakfast. After last night's meal, he is anxious to again have a dish prepared by the oldest ranch girl. She is quite talented.

A sound from upstairs then catches his attention. Apparently the younger one has decided to get up and join the world now. It takes a few minutes, likely because she is freshening up, for her to come down the stairs, but he is the first to greet her when she does. He says good morning, only to be met with a yawn and a small wave. He finds this to be a little funny and laughs to show this. It irritates the one who is still drowsy, though.

"What's funny, Grasshopper?"

"Nothing much." Still annoyed but more so hungry, she walks toward one of the cupboards and pulls out a box of something. She also grabs some milk and asks if he would like any as she goes for spoons and bowls. Curious as to what she is planning on eating, he agrees. He also goes to take a closer look at the box by picking it up. "Froot Squares? What are those?"

"It's cereal. You know, sugar, oats, and grain."

"I've never heard of cereal before."

"Well, now you have. Here." She hands out a bowl and spoon to him, and both take the same seats at the table they had last night. She has no hesitation about digging into her bowl, but he examines it a little bit more. He is used to different things, mostly this warm mushy concoction that Saria made. It was actually pretty good despite its description and appearance. There was this one kind of plant that could be ground and made a very sweet paste, which helped the taste immensely. He decides that it does look good and digs in as well.

They stay quiet for most of the meal, but he feels something is off with her. Granted she doesn't seem to be a morning person, but it is more than that. Since conversation had him stumped yesterday, he decides to try and figure it out. Maybe it will also help them be friends.

"Is something wrong this morning? You don't seem like yourself."

"Sister is going into town and won't let Romani come. She always gets to go by herself since no one else can watch the ranch." He takes that in quietly. Since their parents passed on, she probably hasn't had much of a chance to get out. Then he realizes something. He is here to help around the ranch.

"Hey, how about I watch the ranch so you can go with your sister?" She stops eating and looks up at him. He caught her in between bites and thus she has no problem answering right away.

"Really?

"Yeah. I mean, that is part of the deal. I help out around this place, which includes watching it while other people might have to run errands." His offer makes her very happy, and she nearly jumps out of her seat and runs over to hug the one she named after a bug.

"Thank you, Grasshopper!" she says excitedly. In shock for a couple of seconds, he quickly gets over it and returns the embrace, just not as fiercely.

"You're welcome. But can we finish breakfast now?" His hint does the trick, and she moves back away, now feeling a little self-conscious. That being uncharacteristic of her, he finds this also to be funny. He doesn't laugh, though, and they finish the rest of their meal in a lighter atmosphere.

Once they are done with breakfast, they clean up after themselves and head on out to greet the morning sun. Cremia appears in the distance and is in front of them not more than a minute later. She puts him to work right away, his first duty to clean up the cows' mess after eating. He frowns while Romani laughs, glad that the duty does not fall on her today. She has had more than her share of shoveling cow manure, or at least she thinks so. She points to the shed and shows him where they keep the shovel and bucket. He inquires about possibly using some gloves, and after a laugh herself, Cremia assures him they should be by the bucket. He gets busy doing that, Romani heads for her dog, and the oldest of the trio heads inside for her turn at breakfast.

After he has been at it about twenty minutes, Cremia comes back out of the ranch house, probably ready to head on out to town. Link has pretty much cleaned up the whole mess, which impresses her very much when she comes to check on him. He wants to wipe the sweat off of his brow but refrains because his hands aren't exactly clean.

"Well, Link, you're doing a great job on your first task. I think I made the right decision when asking you stay with us."

"Thanks," he says, breathing only through his mouth. He has yet to get used to the smell. She laughs again.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it. Besides, you and Romani will share this particular duty. No pun intended, of course." It takes a second, but then he gets the joke. He isn't in the mood to laugh, however.

"Why don't you help us and share, too?"

"Because that's one of the perks of being the oldest." He frowns at that but realizes it's fair.

"Sister, sister," someone calls from a short distance. They both look, only to see Romani, of course. "When are you going to town?"

"Right now. I was just checking on Link first. I want you to stay here with him, Romani. He's still new and might need help."

"But sister, Grasshopper said he would look after the ranch so I could come with you." She looks at Link, apparently not pleased he volunteered to do that.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Just let her come. You can trust me. I know I don't look like much, but I've done a lot of things in my life that qualify me for watching a ranch for a couple or hours."

"Please, sister?" the little one begs. She stares at the longing expression before she can't stand it anymore. She sighs.

"All right. You can come." Right away she perks up. "But we're leaving in five minutes. You better hurry up and get ready." She takes off faster than Link has seen anyone run save for the running bunny man. Cremia only shakes her hand at the spunky one.

"Sometimes I wonder how we're actually related. Well, besides the fact that we look alike." Link laughs.

Exactly five minutes later Romani is done. She comes out of the house just as Link finished putting everything away and cleaning up. Cremia assures Link they will not be gone more than a couple of hours and that he can ask Grog for anything if he needs it. Romani waves vigorously as she climbs into their wagon. Her sister bids him a simple goodbye, which is returned. With the reins in hand, Cremia signals the horses to start moving. He watches the two head off into the distance, thinking about how happy Romani looked. This seemed like genuine joy, something he hasn't seen from her yet save for when he made his offer. It makes him feel good then that he has been helpful after being here less than a day. To pass the time, he calls Epona with her song so they can ride around. The expanse is nice, and he can enjoy feeling free with no real worries. Taking care of a ranch for two hours will be cake. He may miss his home and is eager to once again set off on his journey, but he has a feeling he will like it here in the meantime. The sisters will be a big part in that, he thinks with a small smile at both of them.

* * *

In the hero's homeland of Hyrule, the friends who have not forgotten him have indeed been getting on with their lives. With no sign or word from him in more than twelve months, most have just assumed he has yet to find what he went looking for and will eventually be back when his quest is complete. Princess Zelda is the one exception to this. When she gave him the Ocarina of Time to take with him, she thought it would help them keep in touch. If anything happened to him, he would hopefully get in contact with her. Likewise, if something was happening here in Hyrule, she could contact him. That man she showed him before he left, the one who looks so much like the former Gerudo prince, has been cozying up quite nicely to her father. Because she sent everyone back into the past, they lost their memories aside from her, Link, and the Sages. He doesn't realize he is making the same mistake that cost him his kingdom in the future that was saved. The one hailing from the desert may not have the same powers or even the intentions of taking over Hyrule and then the world, but he is planning something malevolent nonetheless, of that Zelda is sure.

A very tall man with bright orange hair, sickly looking gray skin, and eyes that look mischievous and yet malevolent at the same time walks into a room. A stove is lined against one wall, and hanging high above the floor are two animal skulls, both adorned with feathers. A table sits in the middle with stools for those who are eating, and two ramps lead up to different hallways, both ending with an exit outside. With a sigh, the man takes a seat on one of the stools, still towering over the table. The Gerudo, who was stationed at the stove when he came, in tries not to look at him and just focuses on her stirring. It should be ready any time now. Hopefully that will be pleasing enough.

"Aiah, you don't need to be so tense," he starts. The opposite of what he wanted, she gets more stiff. "I have no intention of hurting any of you. It isn't you I am after. The boy I want never even came here to have ties with your tribe." She doesn't answer still, and he gets up and walks over to her. His shadow eclipses the stove, but he leaves his hands behind his back. "I am not like my father. He was selfish and blinded by what he desired. He even forsook my mother and let those witches do as they wanted with her despite the fact she was his second in command." Aiah tries to hide her shock at what he just said. The day he came here to Gerduo Fortress he revealed his paternal heritage with a display of power. He kept quiet until just now about his mother, though and just where in the world he came from. "When the Princess of Destiny attempted to send the Hero back in time, her plan did not go as she wished. She simply erased everything that had happened and reset things. It was the Goddesses who ensured my father remained trapped. They created a bubble around certain people that would protect them when things shifted back seven years. As far as I can tell, only the Hero, the Princess, and that fairy partner of his remember. I am here still because my father passed on part of the Triforce of Power to me. Having a Sage for a mother probably helped. It is strange they would interfere, however. It isn't like them. Once they left this world, they were going to let it progress on its own. But they kept my father sealed up in the Sacred Realm."

"They left him there because of his crimes," she practically spits. "He deserved it."

"I am not defending him. Do not mistake my intentions, my dear Aiah. However, because they left him sealed, I will not be born into this world."

"I can't believe you were ever born into any world." He looks thoughtful.

"I was kept a secret there or so they tell me. A year before the hero awoke I was born, but it was too late for my father to care. Despite being brainwashed by that monster Twinrova, my mother still plotted against him when she wasn't under their spell, especially after she had me. It angered him more than anything, and he finally stopped allowing her to ever be free of the spell. The witches turned her into a formidable enemy to stop the Hero of Time, but he prevailed and freed her. When it looked like he might win against my father, the sect that was still loyal to him sent me 1,000 years into the future. I grew up with him for he had escaped and left the land ravaged since there was no one to protect it. The Hero had been trapped in another land and never returned, leaving Hyrule open to attack. I hated what my father was and what he did. There was no point in ruling over a land that was desolate and barren of life save for the few he left alive just so they could procreate and give him more people to toy with. I found myself longing for more. And then I discovered why the Hero had been trapped. My father worked with someone just as sinister as he to create that shadow land. I came back to change that future, maybe even get to know my mother since I was stolen from her." Despite being the prince of darkness, he finds himself choking up a bit. She notices but stays quiet. "So you see then why I am not like him." He backs away from her. "And please do not tell anyone of what I just told you. It would be better if my mother didn't know anything about me quite yet, if ever."

"For what purpose do you want to form an alliance with the king of Hyrule then if you're not like him?"

"I'm simply playing the part of the new ruler of the Gerudo people. How would it look it if never went to see the king? They'd think it rude in the very least." She snorts, and he frowns. She treats him like he is his father, something he has tried to distance himself from.

"You expect me to believe that you, the son of Ganondorf, want to help the Hero of Time save Hyrule from becoming what your father so eagerly wanted? I don't buy it." He clenches both of his fists and tries to keep his anger in check. She is the last person he would take it out on. In his time spent here, he has come to appreciate how hard she works and how honest and brazen she is. In some ways, he wishes he could be more like that. He never told the one he cared for just how deep those feelings were. His father denied him happiness with her and stole her life before he could ever tell her of his feelings. For a second his anger wins out, and he lifts his hand and blasts a whole in the side of the kitchen. She covers her face to protect it from the smoke and debris, and when all is cleared, some of the girls are peeking in to see what happened. He says nothing and leaves up one of the ramps, his appetite gone.


	7. Seven Years Later

After almost a year, here is the next chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

The days turn into weeks, the weeks meld into months, and the months add up slowly into seven long years. In the first month, Link waited anxiously and searched for a way to return home. The second month brought a little less enthusiasm, but for a whole year he held onto the slightest bit of hope. With no contact from home and no idea how to try, he let himself adapt and get comfortable on the ranch. Though he never consciously acknowledged that he let go of the wish to go back to Hyrule, he made Termina his home. Navi, he did realize, was lost to him the moment she flew out of the Temple of Time. He regretted not his quest to find her for it brought him new adventures and friends, but it did not make him miss her any less.

His friends from home he missed as well. He would not know this, but they tried very hard to find him and bring him home. All the while he was growing up into the fine young man he had been when he saved their land. It hurt when he thought of them, but slowly he got close to the ranch sisters, to their friends whom he had helped to reunite, and even to the Bomber Secret Society of Justice. Granted they were a couple of years younger, but they were the only kids besides Romani about his age. The young ranch hand even developed a friendship with her similar to his and Saria's. There was much teasing from almost everyone, but they maintained their accusations were not true. Cremia, who enjoyed teasing them just as much if not more, was probably the only one to take them seriously.

Aside from becoming part of the family, he took on his role as ranch hand with vigor and enthusiasm, even though he sometimes would get the not-so-fun jobs. He also really took to the land's tradition of the Carnival every year. Growing up isolated in a forest never afforded him the opportunity for any of Hyrule's festivals, and for that one day, he got to have more fun than he ever did at home without the responsibilities of the ranch. When he first landed in Termina, he never thought he would want to stay longer than necessary, but slowly he has let the place become his home. Besides, he reasoned, fighting against it would only make him and everyone around him unhappy. Life is too short, which he learned early on.

As it happens, exactly seven years later from when he saved this world, the ranch sisters and their permanent guest get ready for the carnival. The town has been buzzing the last week the same as the last six years because the moon is not threatening to end all life. Link finds it funny how they do not even know the truth, even his close friends, but oh well, he always tells himself. Besides, tonight will be the night he has been looking forward to for a while. Actually, though, to be completely honest, he his not getting ready to go quite yet. Instead, he decided it would be fun to tease Richard, Romani's dog. He has held onto his masks for all of these years and still enjoys pulling pranks when the mood strikes him.

"Come back here!" Romani shouts as she takes off after the laughing seventeen year old with the Goron mask. After seven years, he still wears his green tunic though he also adopted his former look of white tights. He continues to laugh even though the girl is giving good chase, especially in the dress her sister gave her. It is similar to the one she wore at Romani's age, which was a design their mother had created. The slight differences Cremia added as her touch are barely distinguishable, at least to Link. That comment also made the one now running after him angry. "I told you to stop chasing little Richard with those masks! He's not as young anymore, you know!" Also in the last seven years did the youngest sister stop referring to herself in the third person, much to Cremia's relief. She was afraid it was a quirk that would turn into something more serious. He never let onto the fact because he didn't want to alienate his friend, but he is glad she outgrew it, too.

The laughing and running soon catches up to him, and he holds his side and bends over, trying to recover though his laughter can still be heard. Romani stops and crosses her arms in front of him.

"I'm sorry," he gets out between breaths. "But you have to admit that was kind of funny."

"No, it wasn't. Now give me those masks so you'll knock it off!"

"No way!" He takes off again, but his energy is a little lower than the last chase. She is easily able to catch him and even tackle him to the ground, neverminding that she is wearing her new dress. Besides losing her penchant for referring to herself in the third person, she has become a lot spunkier, letting that side out often. Plus having him as a best friend has led her to develop a somewhat tomboyish side.

Just in time to see the brawl, Cremia steps out of the ranch house and takes only a few steps before stopping again. She was hoping the two teenagers would behave at least for today, but that was too much to ask. At first she decides to wait and see if they will stop on their own, but this does not last long as she realizes her little sis is wearing that dress she made specially for her and this occasion. This propels her forward toward the pair on the ground.

"Alright you two, break it up," she orders as she takes away his mask. Because he is preoccupied, she has no problems getting it. He rolls over and jumps up. For the one he was fighting with, this is a little bit harder because of her attire.

"Give it back, Cremia. I was just having some fun."

"Tonight is the carnival, and our two friends have something important they want to share with us. You can have fun tomorrow. Besides, the carnival should be fun enough for you two."

"Sorry, Sister," Romani says with her head down. Link apologizes also.

"I only ask that you act your age for one night, even though you two do need to grow up sometimes."

"Why the sudden change? You never minded our antics before," Link inquires with some suspicion.

"Because Kafei and Anju aren't the only ones to have an announcement." This piques both of their interest.

"And what would that be?" the hero arches an eyebrow. She only turns away toward the direction of the barn.

"You'll just have to wait and see. Now I'm going to get the horses ready to ride into town. We'll be taking some milk with us for the bar. You better hope I don't get dirty since I'm all ready to leave." With that, she walks away and into the barn. The two teens don't say anything more to each other and head toward the ranch house to follow her orders.

Luckily for the young pair Cremia is able to get everything ready without ruining her wardrobe. Romani has little problem cleaning off her garb, and Link practically sprints from the house feeling like a million rupees. The ride into town is made interesting by light conversation, mostly from the two who were squabbling not long ago. Cremia keeps her focus on the road since it is getting dark out already. The usual routine is to head into town after dusk, but since she is delivering extra Chateau Romani, she wanted to leave a little bit earlier. Hopefully the delivery she had Link make yesterday has lasted until now. Then again, it is really hard to predict the habits of people when it comes to drinking. She is only following Mr. Barten's directions.

The trio gets there in peace and unloads the four extra jugs they brought along with them. The Milk Bar seems busy so far, and they leave the barely grateful man to enjoy the festivities in the town square. The couple they are meeting said to be by the inn at six, which is just about to come up on them. So as not to be late, they head there and decide to just wait the ten or so minutes until the other two arrive. Most likely the two are just inside getting ready for the night and will be out shortly. This is best evidenced by the conversation they can hear. The voice of Anju's mother comes through the door, talking quite loudly to her daughter about this evening. It isn't perfectly clear, but they can tell the mother and daughter are disagreeing about something apparently big. The Anju Link first met seven years ago was quiet and well-mannered, but after her and Kafei's union, she started standing up more to her mom. The overbearing woman still tries, though, as heard from the outside.

Before the trio can get too nosy, the door opens to the small inn. Anju's mom gives in with just a word of farewell, and the couple comes out into the cool night air, the door shutting on their way. Kafei sees their friends there and smiles. Anju greets them hello also, not quite as happy. They all figure the altercation with her mom is to blame and take no offense.

"Hi, you two," Cremia starts off. Instead of bringing up what they just heard, she goes for normal catching-up conversation. "How have you two been? I haven't spoken with you in a week at least except about tonight."

"Aside from what you just heard in there, we've been good," he answers for them both. "But we have plenty of time to talk tonight. Why don't we head over to the Milk Bar from some pre-carnival drinks?" That sounding good to all there, the quintet heads the twenty or so feet to the hotspot of the night. For once the ranch sisters can enjoy the product of all their hard work. Usually the bar only allows those with a mask inside, but he makes an exception at the holidays purely for profit's sake. The youngest pair wonders silently to themselves if her sister will allow them to have any drinks since they aren't quite old enough yet, at least in her rulebook. No official guideline exists for the public, but generally the parent or person in charge of the younger generation is given leeway to judge for themselves. They both figure probably not because Cremia is strict in her treatment of them both, which she assures them is for their own good. Just as quickly they both also separately realize that it can be fun to watch drunk people, especially the ones you know.

The bar buzzes with laughter and chatter, and the staff Mr. Barten hired temporarily for the holiday runs around trying to keep up with orders. Upon seeing them, the bar's owner changes his demeanor and rushes over to get them a good place to sit. No doubt this treatment is because Kafei is the son of the town's mayor who was elected again just a few months ago by an overwhelming majority. None of them seem to mind, though. The group has a hard time getting a clear word to each other, but they try anyway. Link breaks the ice first.

"So how's business at the inn?"

"It's the same old thing- really slow during the year and too overcrowded during the carnival," the inn's keeper responds.

"And how are things with you, Kafei?" the older ranch sister inquires. He only sighs a bit.

"My father wanted me to run for mayor this last election as you all know. I finally told him and my mother that politics would never be for me, and she suggested I make a bid for headmaster of the postal service. I told her I wasn't interested in that either."

"So what do you for a living now then?" her little sister asks.

"I found a great opportunity offered to me by someone who had had it with this town and wanted to leave."

"What was it?"

"Well, it's a long and complicated story-"

"He owns his own shop," his wife interrupts his dramatic moment. He looks hurt.

"I wasn't done yet." She ignores him.

"How did you manage to take over a shop?" Link asks, now even more curious.

"Do you remember the Curiosity Shop?" They all nod. Anju goes on. "Well, he decided to give it up and live a life of peace with nature so he told Kafei he could take over ownership." Link kind of looks bummed at that. The place had so many cool things to check out, mostly because a lot of it was stolen goods. He doubts the upstanding citizen who is the son of the mayor would continue to buy from shady figures.

"You don't happen to buy from the same people he did, do you?"

"He's not supposed to," she starts somewhat disapprovingly. He finishes the thought.

"But I also realize that's what got most of his customers to come in."

"Cool. I'll check it out sometime. When are you open?"

"We're open from eight in the morning until six at night. I might be expanding the hours if I get more help. The place has only been mine for a month. Hey, if you're looking for a job outside of the ranch, I would love to hire you."

"Really?"

"Of course. As long as Cremia doesn't mind me stealing her best ranch hand and as long as Romani doesn't mind not spending time with you all day." Embarrassed at that, the youngest sister looks down and mumbles for Kafei to shut up. Link only tries to control the blush he hopes isn't too obvious. Kafei only smirks a bit.

The older trio continues on with their conversation about catching up, and Cremia briefly mentions she has someone she is meeting up with in a little while. This sparks their interest, but she says nothing further. Link and Romani avoid each other and just listen though they are both interested as well. It may explain where she has been disappearing to this past week. Then a sudden clamor followed by loud cursing interrupts everyone's conversations. Mr. Barten now rushes to that scene, finding his two quickest temps have collided with each other. Not only have they ruined many a glass of the good milk, but they have also apparently hurt themselves beyond the ability to continue working. Holding his head, he lets two of the other guys help the now fired young men out of the room to get cleaned up. There is milk to be wiped off and glass to be removed from places.

The hero normally in green can be heard lightly laughing at their clumsiness. His redheaded friend swats at him to shut up, but he only kicks her. She throws a balled up napkin at him, and Cremia glares at them to knock it off. The married pair isn't bothered by their behavior, remembering what it was like to be their age. Granted they along with Cremia were much less prone to acting out in this way, but they had their moments. Besides that, the announcement they have could pretty much eclipse anything else that happens, including the argument with her mother. Cremia, however, gets an evil little idea in her head. She can both punish them by making them take responsibility and assure that the precious liquid she is making a profit on reaches all who want some. Waving her hand and calling his name, she gets the attention of Barten. It works, and the now grumpier man comes over. Internally she smirks as the teens have no idea what is about to befall them.

"Is there a problem?" he asks in his annoyed tone.

"No, I was just thinking that Romani and Link here could help you out since they won't be having anything to drink anyway." The two teens' expressions drop as his lights up. He knows how quick Link is based on his unloading time for even the biggest deliveries.

"Yes, that sounds like a great idea. There are extra aprons in the back, and just grab the notebooks from the two I'm about to fire." Reluctantly, the twp stand up and trudge slowly into the back room.

Meanwhile, their friends watch in amusement. Suddenly, though, someone entering the fine establishment catches the attention of Cremia, who excuses herself quickly and goes to fetch the man. Kafei and Anju look at each other and then at their friend, who drags this new man over to the group's table. He looks vaguely familiar, but neither of the two can place where they have seen him before. Cremia, though, looks happy.

"Kafei, Anju, this is Yttriu," she introduces him. Suddenly it clicks with them both as they recall a little boy who went to school with them when they were children.

"I remember being in that awful kindergarten class with you now," he says aloud. He seems to have grown into a fine young man, the same as Kafei himself (or so everyone likes to remind him). His wife apparently thinks so too as he catches her stare. "Ahem." He nudges her, and she apologizes and looks down in embarrassment the same way the seventeen year olds did earlier. Yttriu only chuckles and takes a seat as Cremia does as well.

"So what are you doing back here in town?" Kafei asks.

"I was looking to escape the family business and go my own way so I decided to head back to my hometown."

"I can relate to that." This intrigues the newcomer. "My father is still the mayor here. He was understandably disappointed when I told him a few months ago I didn't want to follow in his footsteps."

"Well, it looks like we already have something in common."

"That it does." The initial barrier having been broken, the four of them begin to talk as if they hadn't been separated for the last decade and a half. The crowd continues to buzz around them.

Meanwhile, Link and Romani finish their five minute training and are shoved out into the midst of the chaos. Link, being the first to notice the new guy at their table, calls dibs and rushes over to take their order. Romani lightly glares before going to the nearest table that looks in need of service. Nearly skidding to a stop, their young friend arrives to take their first order for the night.

"Hello all. How are you enjoying your evening so far?" Rolling her eyes, Cremia answers him.

"Give it up, Grasshopper," she says, using her sis's nickname for him. "And this is Yttriu, a friend from when we were all younger. Yttriu, this is Link. As I told you before, he lives with us at the ranch."

"It's nice to meet you." He extends his hand, and Link hesitantly shakes it, getting a weird vibe from him. Quickly he pulls back and gets down to formalities.

"So what would you all like then?"

"It's my treat, so we'll each take a glass of Chateau Romani," Yttriu orders for them all.

"Actually, make that just three," Anju speaks up. Finding that odd, he scratches it off the list and replaces it with just the regular milk. After assuring them he'll be back as soon as possible, he walks away. He does so slowly, and when Roman comes around one of the tables, she walks next to him as he heads to the bar from the drinks.

"You need to be faster," she lightly admonishes him.

"Yeah, whatever."

"What's with you?"

"Nothing. I'm just wondering why Anju just wants a glass of the regular stuff."

"Didn't they have some announcement?"

"Yeah. I wonder what it is." He stops suddenly, causing her to run right into him and then get irritated.

Just as she is about to scold him again, he leaves her behind and goes back to the table. Ignoring her other duties just as he is apparently doing, she follows after him. Their four friends look up at the pair, ceasing their conversation to give them their full attention. The only one there who knows what's going through Link's head is himself, and he speaks quickly.

"So what was that announcement you guys had?" he asks bluntly. The newcomer and the ranch sisters all look confused, but the couple he is addressing just look at each other and then at Link again.

"Well, we were going to wait until later, but now is as good a time as any," he concedes. They wait anxiously, but Kafei doesn't continue as he is waiting for Anju to go on and say it. Kafei takes the lead when she stays as quiet as he. "We're having a baby."

"Really?" Cemia asks happily and rhetorically. No sooner is this confirmed as indeed the truth does she get up from her seat and drag her friend from hers for a hug. Link congratulates the dad-to-be, and the newcomer gives the same. Romani, not sure what to say besides the generic congrats the others are giving, just does that. Deciding to let her friend breathe again, Cremia releases her. "So this explains why you two have been acting a little odd lately."

"Yes, and we're sorry about that," he answers. "We just wanted to wait until we knew things were okay for sure." The ranch sisters and Link understand what they mean and feel stoic for a moment. Though the newcomer does not know specifically anything they are referring to, he can gather what it means. Just as quickly Cremia brightens up and smiles at her friends.

"Don't worry, you two. I'm sure everything will turn out fine." Hoping that she is indeed right, the pair smiles at her. Under the table, Kafei takes his wife's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.

"Hey, you two slackers!" Mr. Barten's voice suddenly comes in. "Stop standing around, and get to work before I fire you, too!"

"But you're not paying us," Link protests. How could they be fired when they are not technically his employees? His eyes light up, flames practically flickering. Sensing what will happen if she doesn't intervene, Romani grabs his arm and drags him off. As the younger duo rushes from table to table yet again, their friends can only laugh, moving on to talk to about happier things.

Fortunately for the hero and the red head, their service to Mr. Barten only lasts until the crowds die down a bit. The rest of the staff, who have worked here in past years, can now keep their own against the onslaught of customers. Plus he was just waiting to get rid of his newest hires. When complaints outnumber tips, he has learned they have a problem. Not that the teens mind in the slightest since it means they are now free to spend time at the actual carnival. Yttriu pays for everyone's drinks, and the six of them exit the still-crowded room. Link cracks a joke about not getting a tip, but Romani shoves him, almost knocking him to the ground. Cremia shakes her head, wondering where her sister picked up this violent and immature thing from. The others don't seem to notice so she lets it go and tries to get in on the conversation.

Link rubs his shoulder, and she walks with her arms crossed and her stare straight ahead. He frowns, wishing she would have some fun. They were both looking so forward to tonight, but ever since he teased her this afternoon, she has stayed mad at him. He looks ahead at the adults, who are having a good time despite Romani's attitude. Cremia seems to really like this new guy, who she, Anju, and Kafei apparently knew back when they were kids. The married couple even makes the hero smile a bit when he thinks about how happy they looked. It has been no secret with the ones they are close to that they wanted to start a family, but nature doesn't always care about what someone wants. No matter now, he thinks happily.

Just then he gets a brilliant idea. Since the four ahead are having such a good time, they probably won't notice if he and Romani leave. At least, they won't see for a little bit, and when they do notice, he and Romani will be long gone. The one next to him may not realize it, but he was kind of wanting to talk to her about something tonight. Unfortunately she has decided to be a big pain in the butt, but he hopes he can convince her to ditch the "grown-ups" and come with him. He nudges her with his elbow lighter than she has nudged him this night.

"Hey," he whispers.

"What?" she whispers back.

"What do you say we ditch these guys? I'm not sure how much fun they'll be now, especially with Anju."

"Don't be such a jerk, Link." He ignores her apparently getting mad at him.

"So what do you say?"

"Where do you plan on going?"

"It's a surprise." For a few seconds, she doesn't answer. Unknown to him, she is fighting her rational sense that says Cremia will get mad at them, and Anju and Kafei will be disappointed they didn't all spend time together. Her other self says to go for it. She always listens to her sister, and she can hang out with the couple anytime. How often does Link have something apparently devious planned? Almost never despite what someone else may think.

"Alright." He grins then and slows his pace. She follows suit, and the four ahead don't even notice as planned. When they are far enough back, he grabs her arm and ducks between two stands. He peeks out to see if their absence is noticed, but as he suspected, they have no clue. With a smirk, he pulls out his Ocarina. She only makes a face at that, but he quickly begins playing a melody she has never heard. What ever it is it's pretty, and it reminds her of her parents for some reason. Before the "Song of Soaring" takes full effect, he pulls her to him again, a big grin on his face. Her confusion only deepens when something ethereal and wing-like surrounds them. Before she can demand from him what is going on, they disappear out of sight.


	8. Night of the Carnival

I'm back again. Hopefully the length of this chapter helps makes up for slow updates. And some action finally happens along with plot. Enjoy.

* * *

"And we have a new winner!" a man with a long mustache announces, holding up his fist. Nearby watchers clap for the mayor's son, who looks sheepish at the attention he never really liked receiving. His friends cheering him on and his wife attached firmly to his arm eyeing the various prizes help him get over this. He eyes the various things he can choose himself, his gaze settling on a stuffed bird. For some reason ever since she was a little girl Anju has always been fond of Cuccos. He doesn't even have to hesitate before he picks the doll out and hands it over. Her thank you is a quick peck on the cheek before she snuggles the plushie in her right arm and remains attached to him, moving a little closer. Cremia smiles to herself and decides she should see if she can get Link to play at this booth. He and Romani are constantly in a competition to see who is the better marksman. Over the years they have taken turns holding the title, but tonight their rivalry could be funny for all plus one of them could win the plushie she thinks is cute. Even bigger of a challenge than them trying to best each other will be getting the winner to give her their prize, but she thinks she can manage it. She looks around for the pair, but they are nowhere in sight.

"Hey, have you guys seen Link and my sister?"

"No, not since we left the Milk Bar," Yttriu answers.

"Great. They snuck off without telling anyone, the complete opposite of what I asked them to do."

"Don't worry about it, Cremia," Kafei assures her. "They're big kids. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"That's not the point. We spent the last few months planning to be together tonight. You know how busy we've all been lately, and now things will be changing so who knows if we can have time like this again."

"Maybe you had one Chateau Romani too many," Yttriu suggests. She only glares at him. "Alright, was I in the original plans for tonight?" She doesn't answer. "There ya go. Now let's just enjoy ourselves without the teens around. Besides, isn't it good when things change?" She looks at their friends and then back at him.

"I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am. Now who's up for some more games? I brought plenty of rupees with me tonight."

"Why don't we let the girls choose this time?" the son of the mayor suggests.

"There are so many to choose from I don't know which one to pick. Anju can decide."

"How about that gold fish catching game? I've been wanting to keep some in the lobby at the inn for the quests."

"Then lets head on over there, shall we?" Yttriu extends his arm to the oldest ranch sister, and she accepts it willingly. They begin walking over to the next booth while their friends look at each other, finding it odd how comfortable she seems to be with him. They forget this in favor of going after the pair, content with having fun with their close friend and the one from their childhood.

This time all four take their turn with this game of chance and patience. Only one comes away the victor, though, with an impressive six little fish to go along with her Cucco plushie. Hopefully they will enjoy their new home occupying bowls in the lobby of the Stock Pot Inn. Kafei looks at the bag in semi-awe.

"After all of this time there are still some things about you I don't know." She smiles and holds the bag up to watch the little guys swim around in the small space.

"Yeah, that's impressive, Anju," Cremia agrees.

"It's really not **that** impressive," she tries to play down their compliments. "It just takes some patience and luck. If you've met my mother, you know I have plenty of patience, and I've been feeling lucky lately."

"By the way, why did your mom sound so angry earlier?" Cremia asks having been reminded of the woman's loud and shrill voice yelling at her daughter and son-in-law.

"She was just being a little overly concerned is all," he answers. The other two nod in understanding. "But after I assured her I could take care of my wife just fine and that some fun would do more good than anything, she let up. Of course, we had to practically storm out in the process, but it worked, didn't it?"

"And hopefully she'll be asleep when we go home. At least we can put off her yelling until the morning."

"Sometimes I think we shouldn't have moved back in with her four years ago."

"But you know how she was after my grandmother died. I couldn't let her live alone like that." He sighs inaudibly. It's true, but that doesn't mean he always likes it.

"Yeah, I know." That tone she recognizes.

"If you don't like it that much we could always try living with your parents."

"On second thought your mother does need all of the support we can give and help with running the inn." The other two silently snicker. Even the couples who everyone thinks are perfect can have their moments.  
"Does she still nag on you learning how to cook?" Yttriu then inquires, remembering distinctly the many occasions of her trying to teach her only child to be a "proper young lady." Even if he did not witness it firsthand, he heard about it enough to sympathize.

"Yes," she admits simply, not wanting to think about that this night on top of everything.

"Well, surely you've gotten better at least."

"...Not really."

"Oh." He stops talking then, and even though the conversation could easily die here, Kafei just has to add something else.

"She doesn't nag as much after the incident at my father's fundraiser." This piques his interest, and Mayor Dotour's son goes on despite the light glare from his better half. "My mother decided it would show a better family image if Anju made the food for the whole ordeal, but we actually ended up losing more votes and contributions."

"How come?"

"Everyone got a nasty bout of food poisoning. Some of them were sick for two weeks."

"In her defense, at least it tasted really good going down," her best friends tries to help.

"But probably not so good coming back up," Yttriu adds as he thinks about.

"Alright, you can all stop making fun of me now." Kafei puts his arm around her.

"We're not making fun of you. Besides, not everyone is cut out to be a gourmet chef. I'm lucky to have a knack for it, which, according to my mom sometimes, is one of the only things I'm good at."

"She doesn't really say that, does she?" the red head asks sounding somewhat appalled.

"I don't listen to her. I just think she's unhappy with me deciding not to run for mayor or headmaster of the postal service. Once my shop gets off the ground and is successful, I think her tune will change."

"Speaking of food poisoning," their guy friend cuts in. "How long until you guys can officially be called mom and dad?" They both look at him strangely, and Cremia mentally slaps herself. So far he has mostly acted like the boy they knew, but when he says things like that, it makes the couple wonder just how much he has changed.

"How does food poisoning remind you of that?"-Kafei

"Oh, I don't know. I guess it's the whole throwing up thing." Silently Cremia begs the Great Fairy to please have him stop talking on this subject.

"Your logic is different, but I guess it makes sense," he concedes.

"You're both weird," his wife adds.

"I'm going to have to agree with her on this."-Cremia

"I'm probably overgeneralizing, though. I don't know much, but I do remember not everyone goes through the same thing."

"Luckily Anju's mother has a great remedy that helps a lot. I'm even thinking about asking her to market it at my shop someday to help anyone who may come down with nausea."

"You are not going to ask her that."

"Why not? I think it would sell very well, especially to sailors."

"Because we have tons of sailors here in Clock Town." (In the years since the defeat of Majora, there has been little increase in the amount of people visiting from sailing on Great Bay and on the oceans beyond.) That shuts him up for a second before he concedes that going into business with his mother-in-law is probably a bad idea. Plus this newly acquired sarcastic wit of hers has him on edge now.

"You guys haven't answered my question yet," he reminds them. Before talking further, Kafei makes sure he has permission to do so. Once he is sure the look he gets grants such permission, he answers happily.

"The town physician tells us it'll be six months."

"So you two did wait a few months before telling us."-Cremia

"Yes, as we explained earlier." She looks thoughtful.

"You guys don't know how happy I am for you both."

"I'd say it's probably almost as happy as we are." The group falls silent again, this time not because of awkwardness but because of the happy thoughts they were talking about. With Yttriu, though, this does not last long.

"Alright, this time I'll choose a booth. Let's head over to the fortune teller and see what's in store for us." As before, that sounds good to all. It'll provide some laughs at least. The group of four heads across South Clock Town towards the laundry pool and fortune teller's booth.

* * *

Link and Romani land safely far away from their friends. When he lets her go, she steps away and looks around at the wonder that is Snowhead. She has never had the fortune of venturing up here. Her father once promised his girls that he would take them both, and they were to make a whole day of it as soon as he came home from his cattle deal. Then those men ambushed him and stole not only the newest pair of cows but his life. Because spring is just about beginning, not much snow is left on the ground save for little patches of it here and there. The air is still quite cool, though, and she shivers. He notices and comes over, removing his coat and handing it out in an offering. His gesture seems strange and makes her a feel a little awkward, but she accepts it and slips it on. With all of the adventures he faced and the places he saw, he has found he is more hardy than most people. What Romani thinks is freezing cold up here he feels is actually nice.

"It's so nice up here," she starts.

"I know. That's partly why I brought you up here. It was always one of my favorite places to go when I first got here."

"While you were trying to defeat that imp with the Majora's Mask, right?"

"Yeah." During his time living at the ranch he got close enough to both sisters to tell them the truth of his adventures here and even in Hyrule, and he was surprised when they believed him with no reservations. He thought himself lucky then to have found such good friends in such a strange place. Her voice interrupts his thoughts.

"The sky is so clear, even more than at home." While she continues to revel in the clarity of the darkness and the brightness of the shining diamonds studded so high above, he makes his way over to one of the patches of snow. In no time a small snowball is formed in his hands, which are now colder than the rest of him. She starts to turn around, talking at the same time. "So why else did you-" *SPLAT* Before she can continue her thought, the perfect ball of slushy ice hits her in the face, exploding on impact with some of it landing in her dress. "Link!" she screams while trying to get it out before it completely melts. He only laughs harder than he laughed earlier, finding the look on her face priceless.

She continues to stay turned away from him so she can avoid him seeing her hand down her dress. Before Cremia sewed her this outfit, she mentioned how she liked her sis's blouse and the matching skirt she was so fond of. Cremia insisted on a dress, and though it turned out nice, Romani's original request would be a lot easier to clear of snow right now. Once most of it is out, she focuses on her face, which is practically ice cold now as well. Link stops laughing finally, taking notice of her rubbing her cheeks. Slight guilt fills him along with some daring, and he moves across the new grass to her.

"Sorry," he starts. "Should have aimed lower. I know how it feels to eat snow." Still feeling bold, he rubs some of the stray ice off. Even in the close proximity, he fails to see her cheeks turning a light pink, not from warmth but from embarrassment. The reason he doesn't notice, though, is because he is trying to hide his own blush. The boldness suddenly leaves him, and he pulls his hands away and steps back. "Better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"You want to throw one at me so we're even?" She shakes her head no, looking at the ground in front of him and playing with the sleeve of his coat. Before he becomes fidgety like he notices she is, he looks around. A tree catches his attention as it has some strange design on it. Being ever the adventurer, he strides over to check it out. Weird, he thinks to himself. This little drawing looks like the one on his tree house at home down to the detail of a little bug hovering above the stick figure. As soon as she notices him staring at the bark, she gets over what just happened and goes to investigate as well.

"What are you looking at?" she asks with her hands behind her back.

"I don't know. It's some drawing, but it wasn't here the last time I came."

"How long ago was that?"

"Um...I think it was two years, maybe a little more. Sometimes at night I used to sneak out here with that song I just showed you. The way the trees looked when it wasn't all snowy like this reminded me a little bit of home."

"Oh." It gets quiet again, and she wonders if she should ask her question. She decides she wants to know his answer. "Do you miss your old home very much?" Sighing, he thinks about everything he left behind.

"I guess I miss all of my friends."She continues on because he never really talked about his friends.

"Who were they?"

"There was Saria, my best friend when I was growing up. She was a Kokiri girl who was never going to grow up herself. Then there was Zelda, the princess of Hyrule."

"You knew a princess?"

"Yeah. She was a really nice person and fun to hang out with, even if we didn't get many chances. I knew another princess, too. Her name was Ruto, and she was a Zora."

"Those fish people?" He laughs lightly, which she takes to mean that she is indeed a fish person.

"She called me her fiance after we went on an adventure together. Then there was Darunia, a Goron who made me his sworn brother. There was Impa, Zelda's caretaker and Mido, a Kokiri like Saria. He taunted me my whole life. I can't believe I actually miss him."

"What about that other ranch girl you said you knew?" He suddenly becomes more somber.

"You mean Malon." He takes a second to collect his thoughts. "I do miss her. Epona probably does, too. She raised her, after all." He looks up at the moon, which looks nothing like when it almost crashed down on the world. "But I have great friends here, too. I know they've been getting on fine without me. They're all probably having a lot of fun right now, which is why I brought you out here." He moves away from the tree, a small grin on his face.

"What do you mean by fun?"

"I was thinking we could explore since you're never been here before."

"Oh." He detects a faint hint of disappointment in her tone.

"Is something wrong?" She shakes her head again, and he sees a small smile take the place of the apparent sadness.

"No, it's nothing. Exploring sounds like a lot of fun."

"Even more than the carnival?"

"That's not a fair question. Besides, you haven't had to go to every single one since you were a baby."

"You don't like them anymore?"

"No, it's not that. They're just not as much fun."

"The others sure seemed like they were looking forward to it."

"Ytrriu hasn't been to one since he was six, Anju and Kafei were excited because of their announcement, and my sister has loved every single carnival since I can remember."

"So then I guess it's a good thing I dragged you away from there. So come on." He grabs her by the hand and starts heading off toward a trail that will take them up the mountain the hard way.

Surprisingly she lets him drag her around without yanking away. In fact, though she will stay silent on the subject, she quite enjoys it. She doesn't know when she started thinking these weird things about her friend, but what she does know is that she won't ever tell him, especially with his reaction to her just a couple of minutes ago. Little does she know he is surprised himself at his behavior towards her. When he said lets go for an adventure as if that was the real reason he brought her here, he was only telling a half-truth. There was something of greater importance he wanted to talk with her about, and he figured this night would be perfect timing. Apparently he was wrong, though. To save the evening he can at least try and have a good time walking up this trail. It is new to her, and he'll have to settle for enjoying the look on her face as she discovers everything herself.

The walk is a quiet one, and he eventually lets her hand go. This way will be easier as they have a small precipice to climb up ahead. It isn't a big deal, but they will have to drag themselves up about four feet. No doubt they are going to catch it from Cremia when they go back all dirty, especially Romani in her new dress, but it'll be worth it. She thinks the same thing and hence does not protest when it comes to the climbing. The air smells so different up here. Pine needles, dirt, and new grass come together to form a scent that easily rivals the cows, hay, and chickens on the ranch. The smell is rejuvenating to him as well and is something he has come to love about the mountains. When he first began his adventure here in Termina he noticed how differently the field here smelled from Hyrule. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't the same. After traveling far in his quest to defeat Majora, he learned the smell of every place here. The mountains are by far his favorite.

After a bit he notices her start to lag behind and slows his pace so she can keep up. Inwardly she curses her dress shoes for holding her back. If she had been allowed to wear her normal boots, keeping up with Link would be no problem.

"Hey, are you doing alright?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, I guess. How about taking a break?"

"I don't need a break. I can hike just as well as you." With that, she picks up the pace, even though it hurts to walk any faster than she was already going. Practically rubbing the back of his head in confusion, he hurries after her. She's moody tonight, he thinks. _'I wonder why that is.'_

"Why were so curious about my home?" he asks suddenly, hoping to ease the tension.

"Because you've never really talked about it."

"Can I ask you something then?" She tells him to go ahead. "What were your parents like? You've never really talked about them, either." That is not a question she really wants to answer, which is why she avoided opening up to him about it all of this time. She doesn't even really like talking to her sister very much because she is too easily reminded on what she lost.

"My father was very kind. At least, that's what my sister says. She's eight years older than me, and she got to spend a lot of time helping on the ranch because I was too little. He died when I was six." He takes that in quietly. Seven years ago Cremia did tell him that they died not as long ago as Romani originally told him, but when you're that young, it is hard to hold onto memories. "He promised Cremia and me that he would take us up here someday. Even if I can't remember that much, I can still see his smile and how he was looking forward to that trip with us."

"What about your mom?"

"She was a lot like my sister. That's where she learned to cook, you know. Actually, now that I think about it, she offered Anju's mom to teach her, too."  
"How did that work out?"

"Don't you remember Major Dotour's fundraiser?"

"Oh, that's right. Food poisoning."

"My mom sure tried, though. Anyway, she also had a place in town. When she got sick, Mr. Barten offered to buy it from her or else she would have lost it and had to pay a lot of rupees. She loved running her restaurant. She loved talking to people, and she loved making food that brought them from far away just to try. She was funny and kind, and she tried so hard after what happened to our dad. I remember one time when I was there with her, and this man wandered in looking really scraggly. Everyone else wanted to kick him out because they didn't think he could pay for anything, but my mom sat down and started talking to him. After a glass of water, she offered to make him some lunch. It didn't matter if he could pay or not. I always admired that about her. Cremia is the same way, which is why she let you stay with us at first. I only hope I'm not disappointing her."

"No way," her interjects. She looks at him curiously, but he points for her to keep her eyes ahead as a large rock is in her path. She dodges it at the last second. "There's no way you're letting her down. You work hard all day, and you even make time to do the lessons Cremia has for you. I may be world wise, but you know a lot more than me in some ways. Besides, your sister isn't the only one who is funny and kind, even if you have hit me a few times." She laughs nervously and recalls the latest incident this afternoon.

"Thank you, Link."

"For what?"

"Just for listening."

"Hey, any time. That's what friends are for, right?"

"Yeah...friends." Before he can comment on what she means, the heal on her left shoe breaks, and she loses her balance. He reacts quickly by trying to keep her from falling. In the process, he moves too quickly without looking, even for him and loses his balance as well. She falls into him, and he falls on the dirt with a thud. He makes a nice pillow, is all she can think. Plus he is way warmer than the jacket. He, meanwhile, tries not to focus on her chest pressed closely to his or how nice she smells despite the walking they've been doing. "Guess I should thank you again," she starts, trying to joke.

"You're welcome. But could we get up? The ground is pretty cold." Trying not to act like anything, she simply moves off of the hero and sits on the ground to examine her shoe. He pauses for a few seconds before he sits up as well. "Aren't those new shoes?"

"Yeah, which makes it even worse that I broke them. Cremia's gonna yell at me now about this, too."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you up here tonight. It's kind of dark, anyway. Do you want to just go back?"

"No," she answers almost too forcefully. "I'm still having fun. I can just break the heal off the other shoe so they're even again." He laughs out loud, angering her. "What's so funny about that?"

"Because that's totally a Romani answer, something only you would say."

"How about I try breaking it on your head then?" She lifts the soon-to-be-flat up to emphasize her point.

"Go ahead and try. My head's a lot harder than you might think." Taking him up on his offer, she swings with only half of her might. He catches her hand, and she glares, even though she hadn't completely meant to make contact with his skull. He leans in closer. "Guess I should have also mentioned how fast I am." Very quickly they both realize how close each other's face is and how the chill of the night air is eclipsed by the warmth of each breath they exhale. When Link made plans to ask her something important, he never imagined it would be quite this forward. No matter, he thinks as the sudden boldness kicks in again. Deciding now is as good a time as any, he follows his instinct in taking his next action. Her mind has barely any time to register that his head is getting closer to hers before her brain has to deal with something even more major. Under the light of the moon on the eve of the Carnival of Time, the hero and the ranch girl share their first kiss.

* * *

Back at Clock Town, the group of four is still waiting for everyone to have their chance at being seen by Madame Poofklump. Her reputation apparently followed her since the line was quite long. Cremia and Kafei got to have their fun, and now they wait for Yttriu and finally Anju. The order was decided randomly by the famous game know as Rock, Paper, Scissors. The guys faced off as well as the girls, and the winners from there faced off, leading to the order they all mostly accepted. Unfortunately, while Cremia and Kafei kept the other two's places, they went to grab a snack for the whole gang. The line was long enough that they had plenty of time, and when they passed by the stand selling sweet popped corn in large helpings, both girls decided it sounded good. Kafei was to hold the fish and the plushie along with his wife's place in line, and Yttriu volunteered to follow her and help. Of course, when they returned, the people who had gotten behind the others were not too keen on letting them cut. Yttriu was ready for a fight about it, but Anju, who has never much liked open conflict, convinced him it wasn't worth it. On the bright side it gave each pair a chance to talk with the other one on one.

Cremia and Kafei stand by their friends in line while Yttriu continues to be talkative.

"So what did she tell you, Cremia?" She shrugs.

"Nothing too specific. It was the whole, 'You will soon meet someone who will change your life so be prepared for big things to come'."

"That sounds like a good fortune."

"If you take those things seriously then I guess it does."

"You don't believe in the mystical powers of some woman wearing fruit on her head and a necklace of random fake animal teeth?" Kafei asks in mock surprise.

"What did she tell you then?" she comes back.

"That I have the qualities of a great leader and will one day lead this town to more prosperity than my father could ever dream of. Her exact words were: 'The five kingdoms of Termina will come together as one when the need arises and under the rule of the Dotour family's only son will overcome the darkness'." They all just stare at him, Yttiru especially. He laughs somewhat nervously. "Now you see why I don't take her too seriously myself. No way I will ever decide to be mayor of this place."

"I actually think it would suit you," the ranch girl says thoughtfully. "I can just picture you leading the town and being strong and authoritative." She gets a weird look from the others, causing her to blush somewhat. The rumors Link heard once were true. She did have feelings beyond friendship for the boy with purple hair, but she learned to let it go. He never looked at her as more than that, and when she saw the way they looked at each other when announcing their engagement, feeling happy for them both eclipsed her notions of loving him. Sometimes, though, she does think he is at least a handsome man. "Well, I can picture Anju, too, always being involved in something with the town and dressed to make all of the women jealous of her style and the guys jealous of Kafei."

"You don't like the way I dress now?"

"No, that's not what I meant. It's just this picture I have in my head of a what-if, is all."

"Well, farm girl, I can picture you growing old with the cows and talking to the cuccoos since Romani ended up marrying Link and moving to Clock Town and taking over my shop since I had to give it up to be mayor." She swats at him, but he only laughs.

"Shut up, Kafei."

"Who is next to see Madame Poofklump?" the man handling her line asks. The group of four tries hard not to laugh at the completely ridiculous name.

"Well, guys, guess it's my shot now." Yttriu walks into her little tent while they watch and wonder what his "future" awaits.

The first thing he notices is that there are many candles lining the walls while she is seated at the center. A crystal ball is absent along with any sign of tarot cards, and he wonders what her technique is. He decides she probably reads palms or tea leaves or something like that. He goes to take a seat, finding her appearance to be very unpleasant as well as the smell of the hut.

"I do not read palms, tea leaves, or anything like that, Mister Agri. I also do not think you are anything special to look at yourself, unlike your parents. Wonderful couple they will make in the future." He stops for a second and stares at her, but she remains seated.

"What are you talking about in the future? I'm almost twenty-four."

"Sit down." Complying, he does though he keeps his eyes fixed on her intently. "It was your idea to come see me. Why?"

"I thought it would be fun."

"You didn't come to this place for fun."

"What did I come here for then?"

"To protect not only the three out there waiting for you but the two who snuck off to the mountains."

"And just how do you know that?"

"The same way I know what is approaching the hero and the girl with him." An emotion flickers through his eyes, but he tries to stay calm. "Go. That is why you came to this time." He gets up quickly and turns around to bolt out. "But be careful with your secret." He looks over his shoulder at her briefly before exiting.

His three friends see him and look curious as to how it went. No one can ask, though, before the foreman ushers in the next in line, who is Anju. Kafei takes the plushie to hold onto until she comes back, and Cremia wishes her fake good luck. She and Kafei fail to see how antsy he is at first, but Cremia takes notice right away when she looks at him again.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answers too quickly. "Look, I have to go take care of something real quick. I promise I'll try to be back soon. If not, I really enjoyed tonight with you all. Could you tell Anju I said bye?"

"Sure," Kafei agrees.

"Thanks." Just as with the fortune teller, he turns to leave but looks over his shoulder at them both. "That lady is a quack, by the way. Don't listen to her." With that, he bolts as fast as his legs can take him while they stare in confusion and concern.

"I wonder what that was all about," he ponders. She doesn't answer, a conversation the two of them had earlier this week when they first bumped into each other playing in her mind. What he said then worries her more than what he said just now. People continue to enjoy themselves around the duo, him juggling a stuffed Cucco and a bag of fish and her holding the bucket of sweet popped corn.

* * *

Back at the mountains, the two who broke their contact at least two minutes ago, continue to stare at their laps in silence. Their first kiss was most definitely awkward, but the second time they tried, it was already an improvement. That was before they became fully aware of their actions and stopped altogether, leading to where they are now. At least their breathes have become mostly steady though this does not ring true of their heartbeats.

"So..." he starts.

"So what?"

"I don't know."

"Oh." He looks around, anything to avoid seeing her face or having her see his eyes. No matter how many enemies he has faced in combat, he is still wimp of the highest order when it comes to girls and feelings. Why he was the one to receive the Triforce of Courage is a mystery to him. "Um, Link?" she asks feebly.

"Yeah?" She goes on, still looking down.

"Thank you for everything. It's been a lot of fun. I wasn't really looking forward to tonight, but now I think I'll have some of the best memories of a carnival that I've ever had before."

"I'm glad. That is how I planned it, but you know things don't always work out that way." She looks at him finally, curious as to the word plan.

"What do you mean planned?" Her expression has now completely changed. "How much did you plan?" He shrinks back, not wanting to have to answer that question.

"It's not what it sounds like. I only wanted to talk. What just happened was totally spontaneous, I swear." He half-expects her to hit him with her shoe like before because, as he has come to learn over seven years, she likes to throw things at him or be otherwise physically violent when he makes her mad. It never bothered him much. In fact, it has come to be something that he adores about her (though he won't say so quiet yet, if at all). When nothing happens, he looks up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"But you didn't hit me." All she does is smile, further confusing the hero.

"Why would I discourage you from being spontaneous in the future?"

"Future?" he manages to choke out. "Do you really mean...do you think we could have..." And yet again his courage fails him, he curses. She laughs softly at him before leaning in closer, silencing his mumbling. Their third kiss is better still, and he forgets his tied tongue in favor of letting it do its own exploring. Neither knows much about kissing, just what they have heard (sometimes as an unwilling audience), but when she doesn't shove him off, he figures she likes it.

"Alright, break it up, you two." Startled and embarrassed, they move away from each other and search to see where the voice is coming from. Forgetting the nice feelings from the moment now over. Link lets his protective side come into play as a shadow jumps down from the ledge above them, landing on the trail they stopped following ten minutes ago. When he stands up, Link is able to tell he is shorter than himself. His hair reminds them both of an octopus, large chunks sticking out in various directions like arms. The moonlight hits his face, which only has a frown, his bushy eyebrows knitted together as he looks at them.

"Who are you?" Link demands.

"Link...Hero of Time and Chosen One...I am humbled to actually meet you. Where I come from, the tales of your deeds are the only thing inspiring hope for many people."

"Where are you from? Are you from Hyrule? Has something happened there?"

"No, I am from somewhere much farther away. Would you believe me if I said it was the future?"

"The future?" Just the idea makes him skeptical about anything this guy says never minding the fact he himself traveled through the river of time both in Hyrule and then here. "How is that possible?"

"I didn't expect you to be skeptical. Then again, it doesn't really matter what you think. You are destined for something much greater than Hero of Time, and I am here to keep you from fulfilling that."

"What destiny? Isn't saving two worlds enough to please the goddesses?" He laughs.

"You have much to learn. Too bad you won't have a chance."

"Link," she tugs at his shirt. "What's he talking about?"

"I don't know. Just stay back." Link steps froward, ready to take what ever this punk guy has to dish out. Normally he would not be so fearful, but he also has always had his arsenal of weapons to choose from. There is a mask he can use that he keeps on him at all times. Because of its power and what it does to him each time he puts it on, he will only use that as a last resort. Luckily he did some secret training a few years back when a ship full of adventuring pirates who help people instead of pillaging them docked at Great Bay. From their travels all over the world, they gained much knowledge. Though their time together was short, they imparted as many skills as they could.

Half way between Romani and the stranger Link stops. Both keep their eyes fixed on him, and he closes his while starting to concentrate. He has never had to use this in a combat situation so he hopes this will work as well as it did in his training. The young man seems unimpressed, and Romani just watches everything in complete confusion. Why did he call Link the Hero of Time? Is it because of the time traveling he told her about when he was going after Majora? A hundred more questions go around in her head, but all she does is play with the sleeve of his jacket. He told her to stay back, and she has little experience in fighting so all she can do is fidget and watch.

"Stop standing there with your eyes closed and fight me. That is, if you care at all about protecting her." He looks up.

"Enough with corny bad guy lines." Before either of the other two can see, the hero is gone. The next thing their aggressor realizes, Link's elbow connects with his face. The man staggers back, his hands collecting the blood as it falls. "You seem impressed with that move. You'll never guess where I learned it."

"From who, a ninja?" he scoffs.

"When did you meet a ninja?" Romani shouts at him. He turns to answer.

"Romani, just stay back for now." Slightly irritated, she crosses her arms and hmphs. Seeing an opening, he kicks at Link's feet to knock him down. The hero doesn't have time to dodge, but he catches himself and pushes his body up again. The man goes to punch him, but he blocks it easily with his left arm, landing a karate chop to his right shoulder that again sends him reeling back. He had no idea the young man could fight without the use of his many weapons. This is indeed a shock. "I wasn't trained by a ninja, by the way. I learned from the Order of Commini. Even if you are from the future, I'm sure you've heard of them." Though he is correct in his assumption, his opponent doesn't acknowledge this. Even Romani, who is still within hearing distance despite his warnings to move back, has heard the tales from various sources. She had no idea Link ran into the gang, let alone spent time learning their discipline.

"I know very well of their group. It was a shame when they all met their end at the hands of my master."

"Do you really expect me to think that you're from the future?"

"Why is that such a leap for someone who traveled back and forth as many times as you have?"

"I was able to do that because I'm the Hero of Time and I possessed both both keys."

"And I was able to use something they call magic along with a wee bit of science."

"Science and magic? How do those two go together?"

"So many questions from someone who doesn't believe me. Would you like to see an example of technology?" He doesn't answer, but the man pulls something out from his pocket anyway. With a light flick of his wrist, he throws it into the air. Before their eyes the small ball-like object explodes into a very impressive sword, even better looking than the fabled Master Sword. With ease he catches it and shows off by twirling it around a few times.

"How did you do that?"

"Where I come from, my master found a way into other worlds, kind of like how this place parallels Hyrule. One world has the technology to put almost anything into a capsule for storage and transport. He took their ideas and changed them to make them even better." Link doesn't say anything. "I feel I should make things even, though. Catch." He again reaches in his pocket and throws a ball at him. Halfway through the air it changes, and Link catches a light but sturdy sword in his left hand. The hilt matches the other but is black instead of dark blue and is about the same length as the Master Sword. The grip feels good, but Link swings it around a few times to get a real feel for it. Quickly he decides it is more than decent, causing his opponent to smirk. "The design of this sword comes from one in the same world as these capsules. It was a powerful weapon there, slicing a tyrant who once ruled the universe into many pieces with ease. We didn't even need to improve it. I'll let you test it out on me." He gets into stance but quickly bolts toward Link, who blocks his oncoming attack without trying. Praying to the Goddesses that his skills have not gotten rusty, he prepares himself to fight back, knowing his life and Romani's depend on his victory. All she can do is watch in concern from the sidelines.

Nearby a dark figure drops to his knees behind a set of thick bushes. From this spot he peeks out over the top to see how Link is doing against his opponent from out of nowhere. Then he notices Romani standing almost right there with him. He curses. _'I can't believe they're fighting here with her nearby. Ethios...I know what you want to do, but you're wrong. It won't help you feel any better once you get back there.'_ Suddenly their combat moves very close to the bushes so he ducks down again and hopes he can remain unnoticed. When the clanking gets farther away, he figures it is safe though he only relaxes into a sitting position. _'That was a little close. No one else here can know who I am. It's bad enough Cremia found out, and I'm lucky she believed me and agreed to go along.'_ Ethios yells, a familiar sound to the other visitor from the future that he recognizes means the young man is losing his battle. It's his battle cry. Yttriu grits his teeth and knows he has to do something, but he doesn't know what that it is unless he risks revealing his truth.

More clanking follows along with grunts from both young men, but Yttriu dares not peek. Only when she shouts out the hero's name does he forget about his secret in favor of protecting them if it comes down to that. Forcing himself to hold his gasp, he watches Ethios hold his blade to Link's neck. The hero only stares somewhat in disbelief that he fell for that.

"That was surprisingly easy. Guess settling down for ranch life has dulled your instincts. Why don't you bring out your secret weapon already?" Link tries not to look surprised, but he does seriously contemplate pulling out the mask. Ethios backs off and holds the sword by his side. Jumping up, Link takes a few steps away. Thank the Great Fairy he is able to carry the mask in such a small size (that actually always amazed him about all of his items since he first left for the Great Deku Tree). In his left hand he holds the Fierce Deity Mask, which no one gets a good look at before he covers his face with it.

"You're putting on a mask?" she calls, sounding exasperated. He refrains from turning around and getting angry with her, deciding to focus his negative energy on the one truly deserving of it.

In a flash he transforms to everyone's shock. Even the ones from the future could not have envisioned the tales told of such as mask and the power it wields. In less than two seconds the hero grew at least another foot and completely changed wardrobes, trading his carnival attire for a light blue tunic and armor. Blue and red paint decorates his face. His hair is now white as the snow on the ground, and his double-handed sword makes the other look puny. Scaring the others the most, especially Romani, is the lack of pupils in his eyes. Without realizing it, the form of a god stands before them.

"So this is the Fierce Deity Mask of legend," Ethios says aloud. Romani hears the name and remembers what she has heard, which is more terrifying than her friend's new appearance. "Its origins are unknown though it is thought to be the soul of a god whose power was more fearsome and evil than Majora himself. How it doesn't completely consume you is amazing."

"You know a lot," Link asks with a smirk. "Do you still want to fight me?"

"I already told you I'm from the future, and my master there is far more powerful than some god trapped in a mask."

"Put up your sword then. I want to finish having a nice night with my friends." Hiding his slight intimidation at the one now towering over him, Ethios rushes Link again. The demi-god is able to block with ease each move in a fluid manner. Their swords lock in a stalemate, which Link is only feigning as he smirks and moves barely. Ethios is sent practically flying back into the ground, but he stops in midair, staying horizontal. Flying is not new to Link, but flying without the aid of anything material is a feat. Slowly he turns himself upright, taking in the stares of the two he can see watching him. Yttriu, in an attempt to move closer, slips on a rock and lands with a loud ow on the dirt. Ethios looks over, immediately knowing who it is. Link glances to see also, but Yttriu manages to lie low yet again. He decides against immediate action for the time.

Using his new found air, the dark one races high above Link before charging down, sword above his head. Again this is blocked, contradicting his claims of easily being more powerful. Link gets cocky then, deciding he will use the full extent of his powers. With a swing forward, Ethios lands on the ground and rolls away to get out from underneath his feet. Before anyone can see, except for Yttriu, he fires something from his left hand. The small glowing ball of yellow light hits Link's left breastplate, making him wince. The Mask may have dark magic imbued in it, but one's chi when trained properly can be far more powerful than that. Etios spent six months learning to properly control his life energy having never been taught any combat in his life. Even still, this pleased his master and his master's master. Getting angry now, Link swings his massive weapon, a disc of powerful magic erupting from the tip. Ethios knocks it aside with ease. Next he sets his sights on Romani, keeping the fact that Yttriu is hidden nearby in his plans. His hand goes up in her direction next, but Link is too slow to stop it in this massive form.

Without hesitation, the hidden hero rushes over to save her from the force. The blast flies above his back and hits a tree, engulfing it in flames. He remains on top of the girl for a few stunned seconds. She takes a moment to realize what just happened, but his face inches from hers brings her back to the present.

"Yttriu, what are you doing here?"

"Leave it to you to only ask why I'm here when you were almost burnt to a cinder by a glowing ball from some random bad guy." She looks at him curiously, but he moves off of her and then helps her up. Seeing his two friends almost injured or worse, Link has the greatest urge to allow the Mask to completely take over. Part of his brain reminds him of what could happen, and he manages to keep his rage mostly in check. He also realizes he needs to take this off as soon as possible as each passing minute brings him closer to becoming the same as Majora, if not worse. His size leaves him unable to effectively use his learned pirate skills so he has to rely on the sword. He grips it tighter in both hands, but Ethios sends off another blast. Forced to use the hilt as a shield, he protects his face. After impact he moves his hand to look, but Ethios is gone.

"Up here."

"What?" He spins around, only to be hit by another blast. It hits the mask directly, sending pain all through Link's body. He is forced to drop to his knees, the only way to stop the pain being to remove the mask. Although he is afraid it was somehow damaged, he lets it fall to the ground to see where his opponent is now. Ethios stands there, his sword at Link's neck yet again.

"This was easy. Say bye-bye, Hero of Time." A blast hits his hands, eliciting a yelp as the blade flies across the spot turned fighting arena. Yttriu lowers his weapon, a blaster unmistakably from a different time and place. Ethios looks solemnly at him. "So you have guts enough to fight back this time around. They would be impressed."

"Where did you get that?" she asks almost frantically. This night has brought on so much information, way more than her brain feels like it can handle.

"My father," is his only answer. His next comments are directed at the other future warrior. "There's a lot you don't know, Ethios. So much has happened since you left for the past. She changed her mind about you." Though his expression does not soften, something flickers in his eyes. Link takes the opening, using the energy he has left to kick his Ethios's legs out from under him., grab the mask, and roll towards his given blade.

"Not. So. Fast," Ethios growls out, suddenly behind him. On the last word, his sword, which began its descent at not, stops when it hits the flesh of the Hero of Time. He leaves it there for a few seconds before yanking it out in the most painful way possible. His friends both call out his name, but he hears nothing. The only sense that seems to work is the one allowing him to feel pain and the warmth of his own blood as it spills onto his hands. Ethios backs away, lowering his weapon since his goal has been accomplished. His eyes are curiously on the ground. "It doesn't matter if she changed her mind. It was too late before I left."

In a quick flip backwards, he disappears into the shadows the same way he came. Romani wastes no time in rushing over to the fallen one. Yttriu takes a few seconds longer, unable to believe he failed so easily. Then he remembers something given to him by a close friend. Although a thing called technology may have changed a lot where he is from, they still use the magic known to previous generations. Right now he wishes it was the best healer of all, a fairy from the mystical fountains located in the hidden areas of this land and Hyrule. _Oh well_, he thinks. It will patch him up enough to where he can finish healing on his own so long as he rests. By the time he darts over, he has fallen on his back while she cradles his head in her lap, brushing the matted blonde hair off of his forehead. He kneels down, seeing how serious this really is.

"You're from the future like that other guy, right?" she asks, sounding even more frantic than any other time tonight. "You have to have something than can help him."

"I do," he confirms as he reaches into his pocket. A bottle of blue potion he pulls out. It is the variety introduced to Link by that weird lady in Kakariko Village but perfected by someone else. "You need to move back." She refuses, and he gets angry. "Did you not hear me? You need to move now." His tone softens. "He'll be fine, I promise. The Hero of Time cannot be so easily defeated." Hating to do it, she gently lowers his head onto the grass, an action that makes him cry out. Yttriu doesn't give her any time get closer again before he moves in with the bottle. No matter how much she is trying to keep it together for the sake of the situation, she cannot help all of the emotions at seeing the boy she grew up with and chased and teased lie at death's door.

"You better be okay, Grasshopper, or else I'm going to be really mad at you." He doesn't let it show, but Yttriu cannot help the small smile that comes from hearing those words.


	9. A Sunrise and Some Confessions

Alright, time for another new chapter. Thank you to anyone who has stuck with the story and the very infrequent updates. I have no excuse except that I have a job, am writing three other stories besides this one, and am finishing my last semester of coursework so I can transfer to a four year university in January. Life is fun.

Also, I added a scene to the end of chapter 6. It is important that you go and read it. I think I finally have all of my loose ends tied up and am ready to move on with the plot more quickly. It does introduce some more questions, though. Don't worry about that for now. Thanks again and enjoy. :O)

* * *

_On a day just like any other, Cremia drives the wagon of Romani Ranch into Clock Town for a delivery of their fabled milk. Initially she was going to leave the task to her sister, but after last night's escapades with the shooting of fire arrows at bales of hay in yet another competition against Link, she revoked that privilege. Instead they are scooping manure all day before filling the next order for Mr. Barten. With the Carnival of Time only a week away he has been trying to stock up. He's also had more business lately with visitors arriving in town to stay at the inn run by her best friends. Thanks to Kafei's mother and father and their connections they were able to expand the inn a bit by adding four more rooms on a third level. The place was growing in reputation and demand so it was a much needed improvement. _

_At any rate, she stops at the entrance to East Clock Town and gets off of the wagon to begin unloading. Even though it was punishment for Romani to stay home, Cremia kind of punished herself as well since she has to do the hard work now. Just as she is getting the first container of milk from the back, the thundering of horse hooves eclipses the quiet sounds of the field. She turns to see what in the world is going on, only to be greeted by the sight of three thieves. At first she thinks of the Gorman Brothers, but they gave up that habit of stealing from her years ago. The next thing she notices is the crossbows they have ready, telling her they mean business. Without a word, she sets the milk down. _

_Another set of four hooves comes in next, and an arrow takes out the hand of the first horseman. He cries in pain, drops his weapon, and is kicked off of his horse. Her apparent rescuer lowers his traditional bow and grabs another arrow to prepare. The second thief throws a make shift bomb in front of the animal, which whinnies and rears back on two legs, knocking him flat on the ground. He rubs his head looking quite shocked and embarrassed while she stares kind of embarrassed for him. Quickly she remembers who is coming after her and grabs the two knives hidden under her dress strapped to her ankles. After the whole Gorman thing she decided it would be a good idea to teach herself how to defend against things like this and has actually become quite proficient. Her calm and mature ranch girl older sister image hides this well. One in each hand, she throws the daggers at each man, one landing in the second guy's shoulder while the other gets in the leg. Even if they are coming after her, she still has no real desire to hurt anyone. _

_In a pathetic heap now, the three abandon their plan. The one on the ground climbs up onto his horse, and the trio take off for the distance. The only thing she thinks about is she now has to hope she can find a suitable replacement for her lost weapons. She got them at the Curiosity Shop when Link convinced her they have some things worth checking out. The young man who tried to act as her savior gets up when he notices that she isn't looking and tries to slink away. Suddenly she remembers he is there and looks at him._

"_You," she calls out. He freezes, his shoulders rigid."Where are you going?"_

"_I-I'm sorry. I have something to attend to."_

"_But I wanted to thank you and see if you we re okay. You took a nasty spill there. I know. Before I learned how to ride I had my fair share of falling on the dirt."_

"_I know how to ride!" he protests, sounding more like a child than the adult she sees. Quickly he regains his composure._

"_Well geez, you don't need to get so defensive."_

"_I'm sorry. I shouldn't have intervened. Had I known you could defend yourself so well, I would have let you be."_

"_It was nice of you to try," she says in an attempt to make him feel better. Going from angry to sheepish, he looks down at his feet._

"_Thank you. I have to be going now, though." He turns around and tries to calm his horse down enough so he can mount her._

"_You didn't even tell me your name," she presses further. "You look really familiar to me. Have we met before?" He hides his head even more._

"_No,we haven't. I get that a lot."_

"_You remind me of a boy I knew when I was young. His family moved away to a different country, and I haven't seen him since we were six."_

"_You sound like you really cared about him."_

"_I wouldn't necessarily say that. We were too young back then."_

"_What about your two friends Anju and Kafei? They made a promise when they were young, and look at how happy they've been."_

"_How do you know they're my friends? And how do you know about their promise?"_

"_Uh..." He trails off, unable to find an answer in his brain that is satisfying enough. Suddenly a loud ringing can he heard coming from his pants, causing him to fumble around to try and turn it off. She watches him curiously, and when the object that is ringing loudly falls onto the ground as he somehow managed to drop it, it catches her attention. She goes over and picks it up before he can. He curses himself for setting that alarm._

"_What in the world is this?" she asks as she eyes the contraption. It is black and fits in the palm of her hand. The front has a series of buttons, each with symbols on them that she does not recognize. It it also made up of a material that she has never seen or felt before. He snatches it back in a very rude manner._

"_Give that to me." Quickly the device is back in his pocket as soon as he has turned it off. She crosses her arms and glares, something she rarely does._

"_What's your problem?"_

"_Just never mind. I shouldn't have bothered coming here in the first place." He hops up on his horse and kicks her to get her going, but she only rears back and knocks him on the ground again just as pathetically. He groans at the pain and how he should have listened more to his parents when they tried teaching him how to ride. Her arms she uncrosses as she now stares at the random things that have scattered around him on the grass and dirt. Once he realizes this, he also realizes he should have listened to his friends about storing everything away instead of leaving it in his pockets. Before he can scramble to get everything together and to run away on foot since the horse thing isn't working, he finds himself underneath her. Besides being way too awkward for him to even think about, he is trapped under her weight as she sits on his abdomen and pins his arms down. This young woman is persistent, he concedes at least that much._

"_Tell me who you are," she demands not so nicely._

"_You wouldn't believe me even if I did."_

"_Try me. I have a boy living on my ranch who says he traveled through time and transformed into three different beings just to defeat an imp possessed by a mask."_

"_You must mean Link, the Hero of Time." If he could smack himself, he would for allowing that slip-up._

"_Tell me."_

"_Will you at least get up first? You're not exactly a feather, you know." She punches him in the shoulder but gets up nonetheless. Begrudgingly she lends her hand to assist him, and he accepts it to be polite. It takes a few seconds for him to begin, but he does so. "Well, to start off with, I am from the future..."_

* * *

The next morning, as dawn breaks at 6 am sharp, the town outside that would normally be starting its day is finishing their celebration. His friends, however, are not among this group as they all gathered at the inn and have been there since around ten the previous night, when Romani and Ytrriu came charging back into town with an injured Link. It was fortunate that one guest had checked out that afternoon, leaving a room available for the one who needed care and rest. Though Yttriu assured everyone that he would be fine in a week's time, this did not stop the youngest ranch sister from pacing the night away before finally falling asleep against her sister. Cremia sat there for a while before she was able to get away without waking her. She needed to speak with Yttriu, wanting the whole truth of what happened and knowing he was fibbing about the back story. He has been a terrible liar since she met him a week ago, and she wonders how in the world her two friends took what he said seriously, especially when he protested their offer to retrieve the town doctor. They also stayed the night in the lobby rather than heading to their room, falling asleep on one of the couches opposite the ranch sisters. Yttriu went outside, so she followed just before the sun was about to rise. Her friends remained asleep, and she smiled their way as she exited the inn.

Upstairs light filters slowly into the room where the sleeping hero lies. Even though he has been asleep for roughly eight hours, Link still manages to somewhat regain consciousness. At first he resists opening his eyes due to a massive headache, but he is also curious as to his surroundings. For a moment he forgets what happened the night before, but when he tries to move, the shooting pain through his abdomen and lower back reminds him. Moving the sheets off of himself, he sees he is not wearing a shirt and that bandages cover what he suspects is probably his wound. Then it all comes back in a slideshow- sneaking off with Romani and admitting they have feelings for each other, that guy attacking them, Yttriu showing up, and a sword through his back. He's been hurt before, but he always had a fairy to heal him or some potion or milk. Even then, he usually needed those things only because he pushed his body past its limit and took too many hits. Never has he been run through like that. Apparently, though, he has gone and survived or else he would not be looking around the Knife Chamber, the room he stayed in seven years ago after usurping Goron Link's reservation.

No matter how much he knows he probably needs the rest, he moves the covers off of his body completely, finding he is wearing no pants and just underwear. On a chair nearby is a set of clothes he recognizes as belonging to Kafei. Both are about the same size, and with Link's wardrobe at the ranch, he thanks Kafei silently as he tries to push himself up. It takes quite a few tries and a lot of wincing, but he manages it. Even harder is the task of dressing himself, but he manages this, too. The shirt is dark blue and buttons up the front, but he leaves those undone to prevent anything from agitating his wound. Next he goes for the door, which creaks lightly when opening. The floorboards make some noise as well, but this is minimal since he cannot move very fast. There is no audible sign of life downstairs so he guesses they are all asleep for now. To get some fresh air, he makes his way over to the door that leads to the roof. In the past he used it to sneak in after hours, but right now he will use it to sneak out and have some time to think. As soon as he opens it, though, he sees someone else already beat him to it. The youngest ranch sister sits on the roof watching the sunrise, legs pulled up to her chest and her arms around them. Despite what her sister thinks, Cremia moving away did in fact wake her up, and she came up here to watch the rising star. Usually she is awake this early, but she has never been able to enjoy the daily occurrence from this viewpoint.

Her presence causes him to freeze in his steps. He wanted to think before he saw her again, and he does not at all feel ready to talk to her. He worked up enough nerve last night to kiss her, but what he wants to do next will take more courage than facing Ganon. At least, that's how it feels. His instincts tell him to run, but he fights them. If he can't face himself and her now, then he doesn't know if he ever will. Besides, he doesn't have to be **that** honest just yet. As quietly as he can, he makes his way over, kneeling down and gritting his teeth to prevent complaining about the pain.

"Hey." She turns around at his voice, only to find that he really is there and she wasn't hearing things. For a moment she forgets how badly he was injured and is just glad to see him.

"Link, you're okay," she says excitedly as she throws her arms around him. He winces.

"Well, I was..."

"Oh. I'm sorry." She lets him go and moves back, her eyes on her lap. He eases himself onto the roof and leans on the pole holding the bell up.

"Did Yttriu tell you anything about that guy?" he asks.

"Not really, but he did promise to tell me some thing else about himself later. I think Cremia already knows more about him, and I don't think he's the guy she, Kafei, and Anju knew when they were kids."

"Strange," he trails off.

"You should be lying down," she tells him. "Come on. I'll help you back to bed."

"No, I don't feel like resting anymore right now. Besides, my wound hurts, but it doesn't feel as bad as it should. I've actually dealt with worse pain than this."

"So I guess his potion worked after all."

"Potion?"

"Yeah. Yttriu had this red potion that he gave you. He poured some of it directly on your wound and got you to drink the rest." He takes that in and thinks about it. The only red potion he is familiar with was nowhere near as powerful as what Yttriu apparently gave him last night. Definitely strange. "I was really worried about you," she says suddenly. Now he looks down. Despite settling down and not having to go on any adventures in the last seven years, he is still a hero. He will always have his title and his power, and enemies will follow him until he is no longer in this world. When he fell for the girl beside him, he tried to forget that, hoping it would never have to matter. Now he's unintentionally gone and hurt her.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to have a nice night together."

"Up until that guy showed up it was the best night I've ever had." She blushes lightly at her own comment. "Besides, you're alright now. That's all that matters."

"I'm glad then," is all he can think of to say. He turns his eyes to the sky and finds the way the blue canvas is painted red and orange to be a sight he never tires of. "I wasn't completely honest last night when I told you how much I missed my friends."

"Oh." In her tone he can hear disappointment, which he will correct as soon as he is done speaking his mind. "I miss them a lot. Some of them don't even remember the time we spent together because Zelda sent herself and me back in time to enjoy growing up the normal way. I'll never forget anything, even if they'll never remember. That's partly why I decided to leave and find my fairy partner Navi. I didn't belong in the Forest anymore, and I had gotten so used to the road and to traveling. I never told Navi goodbye or thank you. I had to find her to tell her at least. But then I ended up getting trapped here, and I couldn't even use the Ocarina of Time to get in touch with Zelda. The Mask Man ditched me after breaking his promise, and the way I came here was gone." She stares down still, and he knows what she is thinking. Now he will make he feel better. "I love my friends, and some part of me will always miss Hyrule, but I have so much here, things that I lost when I went back in time. You guys gave me a place to stay, and it's become my home just as much as my tree house was. I get way better food, I have three of the greatest friends anyone could ask for, and I really like working on the ranch."

"You said three friends," she points out.

"Okay, technically that's wrong. I have four, but the fourth means way more than a friend to me." She glances over at him, hoping he won't see her, but he is still watching the horizon. He can't believe he is letting the words come out so freely, and even if he feels he is being somewhat sappy, he will go on. "Last night I only wanted to ask if you'd do something with me sometime, but almost dying made me consciously admit what I really wanted to tell you."

"And what was that?" she asks, the nervousness not at all hidden. He doesn't answer her yet.

"I was forced to grow up so fast. I missed out on being a teenager and had to save the world as soon as I woke up from a seven years nap. Do you know how long it took me to get used to my adult body? It was awkward, I can tell you that. I was surprised at how quickly I adjusted, though. Then I was sent back to being a kid, even though I felt like an adult. Even though I had to save this world, too, I stopped to help everyone else along the way. Imagine if I had been an immature little kid. You would have been abducted by aliens, your sister would have been all depressed about it, the Gorman Brothers would have kept raiding her milk deliveries, and who knows if Kafei and Anju would have ever been reunited. I saw all of those outcomes, but I was lucky and could go back in time to change things."

"Link, I think you're rambling."

"I think I'm not." She decides to stay quiet now and listen to what he was eventually going to get at. "I got to grow up normally here. No one was depending on me to save the world, there were no bad guys, and I had someone my age to hang out with. I had Saria back home, but she was more like a big sister who was constantly defending me against Mido. The other Kokiri children never said anything, but they all thought I weird until Navi came to me. I pretty much had to leave right after that. But here...I feel like I finally got the chance at being a kid again the way Zelda wanted."

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

"You were honest with me last night, but I wasn't completely honest with you. I figured we should be honest with each other before I tell you something important."

"Tell me what?" He doesn't answer right away, but he does take a few breaths to calm his heart beat.

"You're my reason." She stares at him, but he still refuses to look. "This place became my home, and you're the one I wake up looking forward to seeing every day. If I could go back home now, I wouldn't. When I was lying there bleeding, I thought about how I was going to leave this world without finishing some important business. It was the same feeling I had when I was fighting the boss of the Shadow Temple and then Majora. I never wanted to feel that way again, but here I was, about to die and regretting something I'd been putting off."

"Would you stop with all of the talking and tell me what you're meaning to say already?" That impatience he can't help smiling at. He also decides to ignore her plea because no matter what words he puts out there, they won't convey what he means. Still being new at this whole thing, he kisses her again, softly this time. Though surprised at first, she quickly gets over it. He breaks it off after only a few seconds, but they remain close. Before she realizes what she is even saying, the phrase escapes her lips. "I love you, too." He grins lightly.

"Hey, no fair. I was working up to saying that, and you just stole my moment." Aggravated but only somewhat, she lightly punches his arm.

"Shut up, Grasshopper." Still with his grin, he leans in once more, the pain from his abdomen and back dulled by the happiness he feels in this moment.

On the other side of the bell, the door opens quietly. Yttriu peeks his head out to see if this is where either Link or Romani went, ending up finding them both. Cremia looks over his shoulder, only somewhat surprised at what she sees. After seven years of teasing and denials, she noticed when their behavior started to change towards each other.

"So that's why they left last night," she whispers.

"Something like that." He closes the door quietly, and they both stand at the top of the stairs.

"I wonder if I should ask them later."

"No," he says adamantly. "You're not supposed to know yet."

"Oh, really? And how are you so sure-oh yeah, I forgot. You know all."

"I don't know all. I just know what happens because I'm from the future."

"So you say." He knows she is teasing and changes the subject.

"Are you sure your friends aren't suspicious of me at all? Judging by your looks from last night I didn't exactly act like him."

"No, it was too long ago. He moved away when we were kids, remember? You look so much like him anyway."

"So we established last week."

"Why is your name also Yttriu then?"

"Well, I'm kind of related to him."

"Really? How?"

"I can't tell you the exact details because the future can be changed by what happens now. I'd like to eventually be born."

"I wish I could know more."

"I know, but I've already said too much. It's bad enough you know about me."

"You keep reminding me of that. I get it. It isn't my fault, by the way. You're a horrible liar."

"My mother was a bad liar, too. They say that's where I get it from."

"So how long will it be before I find out about them officially?"

"Three months."

"Three months? How am I going to act like I don't know for three months?"

"You'll just have to be a better liar than me."

"That's not lying."

"What ever you say." She folds her arms over her chest and stares pointedly. He smiles, and she forgets being annoyed with him.

"Let's just go back downstairs." He agrees, and they head down there. The lobby is still quiet, and their friends are still asleep.

"Leave them alone. This'll be one of the last peaceful times like this for a while."

"Now what are you talking about?"

"Okay, this time I'm making it up. But leave them alone anyway."

"I was going to."

"Oh." Upstairs a door opens and slams loudly. An older man descends the stairs as loud as possible, complaining about how the Milk Bar ran out last night. Apparently he found some more in his room hence his disregard for anyone else and the smell coming from him as he walks by the awake pair. He opens the front door and slams it, too.

"What's going on?!" Kafei practically jumps up in slight panic. He blinks a few times until he realizes what just happened, and he breathes again. "Remind me to write his name down on the black list for next year."

"You guys have a black list?" she asks.

"We do now." His grumpiness is obvious, and Cremia tries to help him calm down.

"Hey, we've all had a long night, Kafei. Why don't you get your mother-in-law to watch everything today so you guys can catch up on sleep?"

"No, it's fine. Knowing her she was up all night too worrying what people will think if they find out what happened to Link. Now she'll probably label him a hooligan or some such thing."

"No wonder you don't like living here so much." His expression conveys exactly how much he hates it, but this softens when he looks at his sleeping wife. She's the only thing that makes it tolerable, and he would do anything to make her happy. He contemplates whether or not to wake her, and he decides against doing so on purpose. Instead, he carefully picks her up. Speaking softly, he looks at their friends.

"You two can stay as long as you like. I'll be back in a little bit." They thank him, and he heads off to their room, the same one that used to belong to her grandmother. Though she is usually a light sleeper, she doesn't stir in his arms, which he is thankful for. Cremia watches him disappear around the corner before looking back at Yttriu.

"Now what?"

"We wait."

"For what?"

"I'm not quite sure. I'll let you know when I figure it out."

"Okay then. What ever you say." He smirks, but she only shakes her head and goes to make some tea in the kitchen. He looks around the lobby and sighs, but she interrupts the quiet with a yell.

"Oh no!" He dashes off down the hall to see if she's alright.

"What's wrong?" he asks frantically.

"I almost forgot what today is." Kafei quickly joins them both.

"Is everyone okay?" he asks sounding just as worried.

"I'm sorry, Kafei. I completely forgot today is your guys' anniversary." Both guys stare kind of skeptically that she made such a big deal out of that, but the one with purple hair smiles lightly.

"Don't worry about it. We were just going to have a quiet night together to celebrate. Next week is when we were planning on going somewhere since the crowd from the carnival will be gone by then."

"But I don't even have a gift or a card or anything."

"Cremia," he says forcefully with both of his hands on her shoulders. "I said not to worry. We know you guys don't have a lot of extra money right now."

"Or ever," she adds. He smiles again.

"Spending time together last night was a better gift than anything you could buy. I just hope Link will really be okay." Her mind flashes to him and her sister on the roof.

"Oh, he'll be fine." Even though the son of the mayor is somewhat skeptical of him being "fine" so quickly, he doesn't say anything. He wants it to be true. Link helped reunite him with Anju, and he's been a great friend these last seven years. The group of three was again in East Clock Town when Yttriu and Romani rushed back from where ever they were, a pale and blood-soaked hero in his arms. That was not a sight he could handle seeing again. He hopes to the Great Fairy and even the four Guardians for the young man's recovery.

"If you two don't mind, I think will try and get a little bit of rest before Anju's mom wakes up and scolds us for sleeping in."

"No, go ahead. I might just lay down myself for a bit on one of the couches."

"I wish we had something more comfortable for you."

"It's fine. I'll see you in a little while." With a quick agreement, he goes back to his shared room. She looks at Yttriu. "Are you going to get some shut eye?"

"No. I want to stay on guard. I'm not sure if he truly is gone for now."

"Stop joking around and being so serious."

"I am serious about that, Cremia." She doesn't respond, the look in his eyes conveying how much he really does mean it. Without another word, she goes back to lie down for a couple of hours before things start buzzing again. He continues on to the kitchen to make the tea she forgot about, thoughts of his rival and the man's mission in his mind.

* * *

The next three days passed slowly by for Link as he recovered from the fight that almost killed him. Kafei finally managed to convince Yttriu to allow the town's only doctor to come take a look at the hero. The man pronounced Link unable to be moved for at least three days, probably more to be safe and prevent his wound from reopening. Surprising everyone save for Yttriu, his injury seemed to heal at an unnatural rate. At the end of three days, he felt more than fit enough to head back to the ranch, even if he was not well enough to ride Epona. Cremia promised to have the wagon at Clock Town at 9 am sharp to take him home, and she kept her word with enthusiastic help from her little sister.

Link sighs and looks up at the inside of the wagon cover. Normally he enjoys taking the reigns or at least sitting next to whoever is driving. He loves the view as they rush by, and the cream colored fabric is a poor substitute. This time Yttriu gets the lucky job of being second in command, and Romani sits next to Link in the back. Neither says a word to each other, both anxious to have him home again. Yttriu also promised to tell them all something later on today. Apparently it is quite urgent judging by the tone in which he told them. Also strange was Cremia's lack of reaction or curiosity. After what he said to that man during the battle, both Link and Romani have been wondering what his story is and just how exactly he knows that man. What ever it is he must not want widely known or else he would not have waited for Link to leave Stock Pot Inn. For some reason, Yttriu does not want Anju or Kafei to know what he has to say, signaling to Link it's probably something related to him being Hero of Time. That is one thing of his past he has not shared with them, and for the time, he has no intentions of doing so. He knows it won't matter to the couple, but he wants this place to feel as much like home as possible. Cremia and Romani don't even really think about it, and he wishes for it to stay that way among all of his friends.

Soon enough the wagon makes it to Romani Ranch, and it is only a five minute trip from the gates to the barn. Based on the sounds and smell, Link can tell he is home at last. Cremia and Yttriu get off, figuring Romani will help him in getting out. In the mean time, they can put the horses away and see that they have water and hay. Link tries to sit up on his own, but he winces before he gets very far. Just because it is doing a good job healing does not mean it doesn't hurt at all. She forces her help on him right away, and together they make the slow journey out into the open air of the ranch. He breathes it in and lets the breeze ruffle his bangs. Something about the ranch has always felt open and free. He also starts to space out, but he is brought back to the present Romani lightly tugging on his arm. He looks at her with a small reassuring smile and follows her lead inside. Yttriu and Cremia follow shortly after.

The four of them go about their business quietly. Link takes a seat at the table, and Cremia goes to boil some water for tea. Romani volunteers to try making breakfast, and Yttriu sits on a futon against the wall, which also serves as Link's place to sleep. It was a very comfortable gift given to them by their two friends in town a few years back, and he approves of it. Silence prevails for ten whole minutes before Link decides he cannot take it anymore.

"You guys don't need to act so cautious around me. I'm going to be fine, and I promise I don't plan on that happening again."

"So you hope," Yttriu mutters. Link looks at him now.

"Why don't you just tell us what you wanted to talk about instead of sitting there playing games? That's all you've done since we met you."

"Don't be so harsh, Link. He did save your life, you know," Romani reminds him. He grumbles almost inaudibly, but she smacks him on the head anyway.

"No, he's right." That surprises all of them. "I have been lying to everyone, and it's time I told you all why I came back here." Cremia looks up from her mug of tea, and the other two look at him as well. Cremia only knows part of the back story and is curious as to the rest of it. "I'm from the future, and I'm related to that guy Yttriu that Cremia, Anju, and Kafei knew as well."

"Not you too," Link complains.

"Why are you so skeptical of that? After all, you traversed the river of time yourself in Hyrule and here in Termina."

"I also had the two keys needed to do so, and that creepy mask guy taught me how the Song of Time would work here. Plus I'm the Hero of Time, which you should know if you really are from the future."

"Is it really so impossible to believe that people twenty years from now could find a way to travel across time?" Link doesn't answer, and Romani isn't sure what to say herself. It was a stretch at first believing Link and his adventures, but because she got to know him as he stayed on the ranch, it ended up being no trouble. This new guy, who isn't even who she thought he was, is less credible, despite what she said a few days ago. She was desperate for someone to help Link. She would have said anything. "Who would have thought that out of all of you, Cremia would be the one to believe me first?" They look at her next.

"Cremia, how could you think he was telling the truth?"

"You really believe him, sister?" She looks at Link.

"I have no reason to doubt him just like I had no reason to doubt you."

"But this is different."

"How is it different?"

"I saved you from the Gorman Brothers, helped Romani save the cows, and then saved all of Termina. I think that gives me more credibility, don't you?"

"How do you know Yttriu didn't do anything like that?"

"When could he have?"

"A week and a half ago when I first came here." Link looks skeptical.

"I was making a delivery to the Milk Bar when I was attacked." That worries both of them, especially the hero since he wasn't there to help like he has before.

"By who? You didn't tell us this."

"I don't know who it was, but Yttriu rode in and chased them off."

"That still doesn't explain why you believe him so easily."

"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you two. It was bad enough Cremia found out."

"Must you say that in every conversation?"

"Sorry."

"If you're from the future, then why have you come back to this place in time?" Link presses further.

"I cannot give you the exact details, but I was following the one who attacked you three days ago. His mission was to eliminate you, Link. Since I haven't been able to find any trace of him, I think he believes he succeeded and returned to the future we both came from."

"So shouldn't you be leaving too then?"

"Knock it off, Link," Cremia reprimands. "He is welcome to stay here for as long as he wants." Yttriu smiles slightly at that but quickly becomes serious again.

"I want to stick around just to make sure he is no longer a threat. I would appreciate it very much if none of you told anyone else what I have said. If they're anything like Link, though, I doubt they would believe you." Seeing that as a challenge, Link moves to get up out of his chair. Pain from his wound knocks him back into it. Romani moves closer to him to make sure he is okay, and Cremia just looks at Yttriu. He can read her expression well and has to refrain from laughing. Somehow she will have to pretend for three months that she does not know what the two have recently confessed to each other.

"So now that everything is settled, why don't Romani and I finish making breakfast?" No one protests so the sisters go about their work. Yttriu and Link remain quiet, but they keep glancing at each other, Link mistrusting and Yttriu unreadable. Cremia sighs inwardly as she notices this. It's going to be interesting living here for the next little while, she thinks.

* * *

I have one thing to say and that is: I hope the future thing isn't too weird or DBZ-like (for those of you who have watched the show and know about Mirai Trunks and his time machine). I promise I know what I'm doing. But if it is, let me know so I try and handle it differently.

Until next time, in the words of my favorite comedian George Carlin, may the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.


	10. Party Time

Here's the next chapter. It's been sitting on my hard drive for a while now, and I was not completely happy with it. I think I am now, though. Only thing is...I may not have completely proofread it for spelling errors. I don't remember, but it should be mostly good. I edit and reedit my stories a lot. I just wanted to post it already. Thank you to Pollobarca for the message. Now that I know for sure that someone is reading it, I'll try really hard to post more regularly. I almost have the next chapter done, too and have planned out exactly what will happen for the rest of the story. So here we go.

* * *

Despite their initial impressions of each other, Link and Yttriu actually manage to become good friends over the course of the next three months. He stays behind in the past this long to protect everyone from Ethios, who he is not sure has given up quite yet despite there not being any action. Besides befriending the Hero, he spends a lot of time with Cremia and helps out more than Link himself. He even drags the oldest ranch sister out to Clock Town to hang out with Kafei and Anju quite a few times each week. For the first time in maybe forever she does not solely think about the ranch and has managed to have a lot of fun and enjoy life. To some they credit this to the young man who showed up out of nowhere. If he heard that, though, he would only flail in embarrassment. Her feelings on the man she is unsure of herself, but she does know that she cares about him, just not at all in the romantic sense. Something else about him makes that seem weird, but she has no idea what it is.

Her younger sister meanwhile manages to only get closer to her new secret beau. Trips to run errands turn into trips to spend time alone away from her sister, and both she and Link enjoy that time to the fullest. Usually they just end up talking, but sometimes it becomes more physical than that. Being young and with their first love, at times keeping themselves under control is hard, but they manage to do it. No matter how secret they think they are being, though, Cremia is far from stupid. She was their age once, and even if she never had a relationship like that, she remembers her two friends and her own fantasies. This isn't helped at all by the fact she saw them on the roof of the inn when she wasn't supposed to, but Yttriu has already messed so many things up. He stopped worrying about it, and she was left to try and play the role of the clueless older sister.

The two who know nothing of Yttriu's true identity or goal here continue their peaceful lives (as peaceful as it can be living with her mother, dealing with his parents, and getting ready for parenthood). Madame Aroma and Mayor Dotour seem to have laid off of their son and his ambition to run his own shop rather than the city or the postal service. Anju's mother Dara, however, does not lay off of her son-in-law, which is the only part about life at the inn that neither can stand. Thanks to Yttriu and Cremia visiting, both have been able to get out and away from their families enough to not go totally crazy.

Before anyone can grasp how quickly the months have flown by, it is already time for the sister and best friend of Cremia to be celebrating their birthdays. The special days of the two are only a week apart, and so Cremia has taken it upon herself to throw one big party for them both at once. Romani knows the gala is for her and has even been helping out as much as Link and Cremia will let her. Anju, though, is kept in the dark, thinking it will just be a small gathering of close friends to celebrate Romani's b-day since hers comes first. Kafei manages to keep the charade up in order to make sure his wife is surprised on that night. It may seem strange that the gang only plans the party to be a surprise for one of them, but Romani has always pronounced how much she hates parties like that. Link tried throwing her one against Cremia's warnings when she turned thirteen, and he quickly learned to take Cremia seriously when she shares her words of wisdom. Despite the fact she knows about it, Romani is looking very much forward to the night nonetheless.

The seasons also change from the start of spring the the beginning of summer so the the days become longer, warmer, and sometimes even thick with humidity. This evening is no exception as Cremia, Yttriu, and Link run around outside trying to put the finishing touches on the gathering, for once forcing Romani to sit back and watch them rather than lending a hand. She takes the opportunity and relaxes on the crate sitting in front of the house, staring up at the stars. Even though it is warm or because of that fact, the sky is as clear as it can be. Trying not to be obvious about it, Link keeps glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

Cremia gave Kafei and Anju specific instructions on what time to arrive, and that moment is quickly approaching hence everyone running around like madmen. Since she doesn't want them walking here and because they have no other means of transportation, Cremia sent Grog from the Cucco Shack with her wagon to pick them up. Putting even more pressure on poor Cremia, everyone she invited is hiding out behind the ranch house, waiting for their cue to come on out. Since she invited pretty much everyone they know, the group is not only large but is getting kind of rowdy having to huddle together for so long. At least, that's how they all seemed the last time she checked on them, which was probably ten minutes ago already. _Who knows how they are now _she thinks to herself in worry.

"Yoo-hoo, Cremia," a voice interrupts her spacing out. A hand also waves in her face, and her eyes focus on Yttriu. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking. I hope everything turns out alright."

"Don't you remember where I'm from?" She looks clueless. "I wasn't there, but I do know that this party turned out great, and everyone had a good time."

"How do you know that if you weren't there?"

"I heard things. Some of the people at the party knew my family. In the world I come from, sometimes the only bright spot of the day can be remembering the past."

"Things are really that bad?" He looks down, not wanting to let her see his true emotions. In that dark place, he lost not only his parents but everyone else he loved except his three friends. They are the only resistance now.

"Yes, they are. But that's why I'm here to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Why are you two standing around?" They look at Link. "You've been nagging us to hurry up, and now you're standing there, too."

"Sorry," they both say as they begin to race around yet again. He gives them a weird look, and Romani can't help giggling at the scene.

Luckily for her sanity and stress level, the trio finishes just as they hear hooves in the distance. The three go stand by Romani, who remains seated (it is her birthday, after all). Link finds it hard to keep even a little bit of distance but reminds himself of what he has planned for later. Grog's figure holding the reigns barely comes into view along with Kafei on his right and Anju on his left. Knowing him he has been quiet the whole ride, but hopefully things weren't awkwardly silent. The ones on the wagon are greeted by quite a sight of decorations, lighted torches, and tables of food that are too much for a small gathering between close friends. Kafei gets up and hops down, going around to the other side to help his wife. Grog hops on down himself and doesn't wait for the other two before walking over to his friends. She takes a little bit longer than the guys, but once safely on the ground, they head over hand in hand. Cremia walks away from her spot and meets them part way about five feet from the others.

"Hey, guys," she greets friendlily. "You made it on time."

"Well, you did seem pretty serious," Kafei answers, secretly knowing the truth.

"Did I really sound that way? I'm sorry." Kafei kind of laughs.

"Why are you always apologizing?"  
"I'm so-"

"Cremia. Stop." Her sentence ceases, and from behind where she can't see, Yttriu kind of smiles, too.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on over already." They begin walking, and the nagging question Anju has had since they pulled up in the wagon finally voices itself.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but what exactly is all of this?" Link takes his cue at that and turns around to holler at everyone to come out. Relieved to be free again, the majority of the inhabitants of Clock Town pour out from behind the building like water through a broken dam. Before the center of the surprise can realize it, they have grouped themselves around the others. That's when it finally seems to click.

"Happy surprise birthday," her best friend announces happily. The others say loudly the same thing but they say Romani's name, too. She almost waves them off like whatever, not too much into the whole party thing, but she doesn't because she knows how much work her sister has put in tonight. Anju, however, is more humbled at the gesture.

"Thank you," she starts, not sure how else to express her gratitude fully. "But you really didn't need to go to all the trouble."

"Oh, it was no trouble." Link and Yttriu cough at that but garner no real attention. "Don't worry about it. Now let's all have some fun, shall we?"

And thus the two-in-one party commences, starting off with the food. Once everyone has waited in line and gathered a loaded plate full, they stand around mingling and munching. Cremia somehow managed to snag the Indigo-Gos to play a gig, but they won't be here for a little bit yet, leaving lots of time to talk and hang out. Cremia and Yttriu stick with their usual two friends while Link tries to mingle. It has been a while since he saw a lot of them, and he'd like to catch up. Romani, though, is left to either try and mingle as well or be all by herself at her own party. Tonight she just doesn't have that spark that makes her a people person, all too willing to chat anyone's ear off about anything and everything. It was the same the night of the carnival, where she practically avoided socializing. The only reason she talked then was it was a small group and she kind of had to. Then Link dragged her away, unlike right now while he is enjoying his two minute conversations with people. She looks over at her sister and the other three, wishing she was having as much as fun as them.

With a silent sigh, she heads over to get something to munch on. She didn't approach the tables earlier since the other guests created a stampede in their rush for food. Luckily there is still enough of a selection left to please her, and when she is done, she takes her plate and cup and goes off to stand by the crate. On the upside it acts as a good place to set her food on while she eats casually and watches everyone else. It would be more amusing if Cremia broke out the drinks, but knowing her sister, she won't do that until later, if at all. The two people this party is celebrating wouldn't be able to enjoy it so it also wouldn't be very nice to leave them out. _At least the food is good_, she thinks.

"Hey, what are you doing all by yourself?" Startled out of her thoughts, she looks up at Link, who is in front of her now.

"Eating," she answers simply. He also detects a hint of sarcasm.

"When you're done, why don't you come over and talk to the others?"

"Maybe." He watches her continue to eat silently and wonders what's wrong. She should be having a good time since this is her birthday party.

His attention then goes to some guests who are arriving a little bit late. Just as quickly he realizes they are not just guests but the band Cremia managed to book. This also means he will have to disappear for a bit so he can perform with them. It became common knowledge that Mikau, the lead guitarist, had perished trying to save the seven eggs Lulu laid. It also was revealed that they were his as well. Despite this, with Link in possession of the Zora Mask, he could transform into the likeness of Mikau, which he did a few times during in his initial adventure to save this land from the falling moon. He also snuck into some practice sessions before the band knew Mikau was dead. They eventually discovered the truth behind the mask and invited him to perform alongside the band when ever he wanted, using the rouse of being a long lost brother to Mikau who just happened to look very similar to his sibling. While he enjoys sometimes keeping up appearances, he doesn't really want to leave her when she is acting like this. He goes to say her name, but she tries to say his at the same time. Her first response is to try and act like she wasn't about to ask something and tries to force him to speak, but he doesn't let her. She doesn't look up from her food, continuing to be unlike the girl he knows.

"When are we going to stop running around and hiding from everybody?"

"What do you mean?" He pretends to be confused.

"You know what I mean."

"But you're the one who didn't want your sister to find out."

"And you're the one who makes up stupid excuses whenever they catch us or ask questions."

"I thought that's what you wanted."

"You never asked what I wanted."

"Why are you being such a girl right now?" She looks up, angry this time.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sensing a fight coming on, he tries to think of some way to back out of it and avoid pissing her off worse.

"Nothing. Look, we can tell the others tonight then if you really want to."

"But then that would put the spotlight on us and away from Anju."

"It's your party, too. Besides, I don't think she would mind." Because that is true, Romani silently agrees. "I just have one stipulation. You need to start acting like the girl I know and not this new depressive thing you're decided to try." The way he phrases that makes her smile, and she even laughs a little bit when answering him.

"Deal." He reaches out his hand, which she only stares at.

"We have to shake on it first." She takes his hand, and they shake.

"Alright, Grasshopper. But you owe me a dance later."

"Sounds good." She goes to move away and take her hand, but he doesn't let her go. Instead, he pulls her to him and silences her question with a short kiss. "I hope that holds you for now." She swats at him.

"Go already. The band's waiting to start, you know." Without another word, he does as commanded. She grabs her plate then and starts to walk toward her sister and the others. Yttriu sees her coming and flashes a smile her way, which makes her feel welcome when she stops at the group of four.

The band starts up, leading off with their hit "Ballad of the Windfish." The music and Lulu's exceptional voice fill the entire ranch, and some people start to sway slowly to the song. Romani finds it odd they would start with such a slow song to kick off the evening, but she enjoys the music nonetheless. When it's over, the band starts up again almost right away, this time with a much faster uptempo piece. The ones who were swaying softly adjust their dancing, and more guests join in. Unfortunately for the youngest ranch sister, the pairs she are with are some of those people. Yttriu asks Cremia in more of a joking manner, and she accepts with the same humor in her tone. That leaves Kafei to ask Anju, but her response is one of embarrassment. To Kafei this doesn't matter, and when he takes her hand, she has no choice but to follow when he walks out into the mass of people. Poor Romani is then left by herself again. Her secret boyfriend, who is also secretly the lead guitarist for the most amazing band in this country, she won't have the chance to dance with. Even if they do reveal their relationship to everyone, he still has to play along with the band. The closest thing she can get is to go stand as close by where they are performing as possible, and that is what she does.

* * *

Above the happy gathering watching from the roof of the ranch house, a dark figure cannot help but smirking. She figured she would find him here having fun with the others because if there is one thing he is good at, it is enjoying the party. It does look rather inviting, she has to admit, and from what she knows in the place she comes from, this party was a night to remember for all involved. Besides, standing up here alone with her arms crossed is not as much fun as it was five minutes ago when she first got here. These thoughts in mind, she jumps quietly off and lands behind the house, already able to picture the look on his face when she taps his shoulder. Before heading out into the crowd, she runs her hands through her hair, making sure the reddish brown mess looks somewhat presentable. It couldn't help getting messed up on the journey here (time travel is never easy, even for someone who has mastered magic to the degree she has). Her escape from that place was also a last-minute thing what with running away from yet another of the minions belonging to the Dark One. Deciding she looks the best she can, she tries to calm the nerves that suddenly decided to cause her heart to speed up. The young man she came here to once again meet up with is not the cause of this as they have been friends since their parents placed them in the same room. The real reason she doesn't dwell on as she walks out toward the people.

At the same time, the band concludes their song, and the couples break apart either in preparation for the next dance or because they want to sit this one out. Yttriu offers to get both he and Cremia something to drink and leaves her to head for the refreshments table. As he pours two cups of juice, he does not sense the presence of someone approaching from behind. In fact, when she taps him on the shoulder, he jumps and almost drops the cups. When she laughs, he realizes who it is and spins around with the intent to hug his closest friend. The humor of his actions shows itself in her magenta eyes. He also realizes that he is finally taller than her if only by a fraction of an inch. Despite being messy, her hair falls neatly on her shoulders, and he realizes how much he has missed home. Before she can poke him for being so easily startled, his arms are around her in the tightest hug. At first it is nice, but she soon needs oxygen again.

"Kaz...can't breathe..."

"Oops! Sorry." He releases his death grip and moves away, his hands nervously at his sides playing with his sleeves. "So what are you doing here, Téa?"

"Simple. I came to make sure you didn't mess things up."

"You guys trust me that much, huh?"

"We'd all still like to be born, ya know."

"You don't have to worry about that. Everything here is going right on schedule."

"And what about Ethios then? Did you take care of him?"

"More like he took care of us. Didn't you guys sense him going back into the future?"

"Yeah, but we weren't sure of the specifics, of course."

"You know I would have come back right away if something had gone wrong." She doesn't answer because it is true. "So why are you really here? I know it isn't just to see me."

"Has anything odd happened lately?"

"What do you mean by odd?"

"I don't know exactly. Ethios disappeared again, and none of us are sure if he came back or not. By now he must realize he didn't finish the job or else the future would be different."

"I've been thinking about that lately actually," he says seriously. "If our actions now really do alter anything, then why hasn't the future changed as well?"

"Maybe it's because you haven't completed your goal yet."

"No, I think it's more than that. I think our future and the future of this time are different now. It's like they split off. I just don't know why it happened. It seems like something major would have to cause it, you know?"

"I think you're crazy."

"No, I'm not. Think about it for a second. Maybe by playing with time and space and going back and fourth we've messed things up."

"You're assuming we could affect the flow of time the Goddesses created. I doubt we have that much power."

"Then someone else does. That has to be it." It all clicks in his head, but she remains skeptical of his hypothesis. Then again, they do not know very much about time travel aside from how to do it even if they have been studying that idea along with others for the last ten years. "But hey," he suddenly says lightheartedly. "We don't need to worry about that tonight and let all the fun go to waste." She laughs a bit.

"You would say that."

"Come on then." He loops his arm with hers and begins to drag her over to where everyone is, forgetting the cups behind. By now the band is playing a quick song again, which most people are enjoying by way of moving to its beat, including Cremia's two friends though the couple is a little more awkward than the others. Romani is apparently dancing with someone now, too, namely the ex-leader of the Bombers who has managed to mature quite a bit aside from still being shorter than her. When he asked, she accepted to both be polite and to have some fun. The youngest ranch sister has a penchant for dancing as long as it is not a slow dance. Cremia waits patiently for him to return with their drinks, watching the others in the mean time. Just as they approach, she finally turns around to see what's taking him so long. The sight surprises her.

"Cremia, sorry I took so long, but a friend of mine showed up."

"A friend? Is she from the future, too?" Téa glances at him, and he chuckles nervously.

"Yeah. This is Téa." The red head extends her hand, and the other young woman takes it, not surprised he let that secret about himself slip.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, we've met before."

"Of course." She pulls her hand away, and it is obvious she is trying to comprehend this situation. "I'm sorry. Sometimes it just seems a little strange that people can travel through time."

"It's alright. I don't blame you. Up until ten years ago Kaz and I wouldn't have believed it either."

"Who's that?" she asks in confusion.

"You didn't tell her your real name?" Téa looks at him.

"Well, I was trying to pose as the Yttriu they knew. That was my plan, remember?"

"I can see you've done a bang-up job sticking with your plan."

"So your name is really Kaz?" Cremia asks, not even paying attention to their little fight.

"It's Kazuki actually." That surprises her, but she doesn't get a chance to say anything about it before Téa notices yet another stranger approaching off in the distance. Kazuki looks as well, and they both proceed to panic. "What's he doing here?"

"Who?" Cremia strains to see who they see, but she can't make him out from this far away. The other two have the benefit of being able to sense him thanks to their intense study of chi. Why they did not notice until now is probably because they were too involved in their reunion, which both curse to themselves about.

"If he introduces himself to anyone, especially Kafei or Anju, then I'm in a lot of trouble."

"Why?" she presses further. They ignore her.

"Go hide somewhere then." Téa shoves him towards the barn, and he scrambles away, wondering what in the world that man is doing here on this night. She talks aloud to herself, mumbling, "I think he was right about the timelines...what could have happened to change things so much?"

"Who is that?" She looks at Cremia finally.

"It's the real Yttriu. He isn't supposed to be here for another two weeks."

"What do you mean not supposed to here?" Again, her question goes unanswered.

The song stops, and the band breaks apart to take five. The people also move away from being such a huddled mass while the lead guitarist quietly sneaks off into the shadows. After making sure no one is watching, Romani follows him behind the barn, hoping they can have a quiet few minutes together, maybe even dance a little despite no music. With him she wouldn't mind slow dancing, especially since he promised her one. The man gets close enough for Cremia to finally see, and she cannot help but notice how much he looks like the one from the future he is apparently related to. She also cannot help but find him to be quite handsome. He seems to target them and moves around the various people to reach their position. On his back is a large bag, and stubble is present on his chin. He appears to have been traveling for a few days, but he luckily does not smell like it.

"Hello there," he starts off. "I was wondering where I could find the owner of this ranch."

"That would be me," Cremia answers in somewhat of a small voice.

"Really? I thought it was a man by the name of Lord Byron."

"That was my father. He passed away several years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Why did you want to see my father?"

"Well, you see, I used to live in this country until my family moved away, but I've recently decided to return and was hoping I could be of some help here. I don't know anyone else, and since this ranch was on my way into town, I decided to stop by and inquire."

"So you remember my father but not me?" He looks confused.

"I'm sorry, but I was barely five years old when my father moved us far away. I honestly wasn't even sure if I was getting your father's name right or not."

"Well then, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Cremia." He smiles and extends his hand.

"My name is Yttriu Agri. Nice to remeet you." She takes his hand with his smirk.

"I'm pretty sure that isn't a word." He laughs a bit.

"I was never very good at language in school. I'm sorry."

"Neither is my little sister. It's alright. But I should also introduce you to Téa." She looks to find the girl who was next to her, only to find that she is gone. "Where in the world did she go?"

"I didn't see anyone there." That being really perplexing, she shakes it off for now and decides Téa probably went to hide with Kazuki.

"Well, why don't you put your things down somewhere?"

"Is that okay?"

"Of course. In case you couldn't tell, we're having a party tonight. You're more than welcome to join us."

"What's the occasion?"

"It's my little sister and my best friend's birthday."

"Sounds like fun. And I will take the offer to put my things down. Where should I do that?"

"Here. Follow me to the house, and then I can go introduce you to Kafei and Anju and then maybe Link and my sister Romani if I can find them."

The two head on over to the ranch house, and he drops his stuff just inside the door. As he does this, Cremia remembers the two who pulled a vanishing act and decides to go see what the big deal is. She suggests he wash up since he was traveling and all. Not taking any offense to this, he agrees and follows her instructions while she heads next door. As soon as she opens the door, they both look up. She was right about Téa skulking off, she notes. She shuts the door behind her and walks over.

"So guys, what's the big deal about Yttriu?"

"What do you mean what's the big deal?" he asks, sounding annoyed. Then he feels bad and quickly apologizes, failing to meet her gaze. "I'm sorry. It's just with him here, I can no longer pose as him and see our plan through."

"What plan?" Neither says a word, and she gets kind of irritated, but she keeps it hidden. "Please be honest with me. After all, I have been a party to your plan for the past three months now." He looks to Téa, and she shakes her head no. He decides to ignore her.

"I told you the future we come from is a dark place," he starts.

"Kazuki, don't. She doesn't need to know." He looks at her.

"Yes, she does." She still glares at her friend, but when he makes up his mind about something, there is nothing anyone, even she, can do to stop him. "I cannot go into extreme details, but we discovered that the evil pervading our home extends much further than just Termina and Link's homeland of Hyrule. With no one to fight against it, it had time to gather followers and become as dark and powerful as it did. The one who attacked Link three months ago was not only a follower but the evil one's main apprentice. I followed him here to ensure he did not harm Link or your sister or even anyone else he perceived a threat."

"Why did you stay then? You said he left for where you both came from." He does not answer right away, his true motive unable to be spoken aloud. Téa looks almost sadly at him. After all, part of why she came back was the same reason he has stayed.

"You would not believe me if I told you."

"Don't pull that. I've believed everything else you've said."

"You'll find out soon. I just need you to continue to trust me. I wouldn't do anything to harm anyone here. In the future a lot of you are practically our family."

"So you know us?"

"Not many people were left when they first struck. It was easy for those who escaped to band together as a close group."

"So when do we all meet then?"

"I said I couldn't go into too many details. What we need to do now is figure out what to do about Yttriu and me."

"And me," Téa adds. "I don't want to mingle with anyone here. As Kaz has already proven, it's a bad idea." He lightly glares at her but concedes she is right. For now Cremia forces herself to forget about the seriousness of what was just revealed and fix this tiny issue. Then she'll have more time to try and pry more information from him.

"Well, I suppose I could just tell everyone that you were an imposter and when I confronted you, you stole some of our possessions before fleeing."

"I don't want to be a thief," he whines.

"Get over it, Kaz. It's a good idea. And since no one saw me in the first place, you don't have to worry about making up a story for me." While the two girls consult each other on the details, he stands there looking mad at them both. The last thing he would ever think about doing is robbing anyone. Unless, of course, that person was trying to harm him or his friends. He would least of all ever think about stealing from the ranch. Everyone here thought he was a pretty cool guy, and now they will all see him as a thug who only had selfish motives in mind. That part is what is most disconcerting to him.

"Fine. I guess it's the only way. But that doesn't mean I like it."

"Good boy," Téa says as she pats his head. He frowns again, and Cremia cannot help but laughing at the pair.

Then, since the decision has been made and the plans are agreed on by all, the ranch owner bids farewell for the night. Before she can head for the door, however, it opens from the other end. Everyone freezes as Yttriu steps inside, shutting the door behind him. His face registers shock as well when he sees them all standing there, but Kazuki acts without thinking. Before anyone can realize it, Yttriu falls back onto the barn floor completely unconscious. As Téa begins to scold him, Cremia gasps and goes to see if the man is okay. Kazuki only looks at his own fist and curses himself.

* * *

Alright, I promise I will not introduce any more original characters that are important or semi-important. Also, I took liberties with Anju's mom's name. It was never mentioned in game, and though some speculate it might be Gampy (as said to her mom by her grandma), I think that was her dead husband's name or pet name. Who knows though? The woman may or may not have been completely senile so...oh well. I like the name I chose. It fits to me. Hope you liked this chapter, and see you next time.


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